Celestial Guardian
by Princessatj
Summary: Little Lucy Heartfilia is given a mission by her mother on her death bed; to become the Celestial Guardian and protect the Celestial Spirits. After training for two years, running away and training some more, Lucy's life begins when she rescues a white haired girl from certain death! Watch as she battles new emotions and mysterious figures emerge, all as the Celestial Guardian!
1. Chapter 1

_*Year X777*_

_*Heartfilia Konzern*_

_10 year old Lucy Heartfilia couldn't __believe it. No, she _wouldn't _believe it. There was no way._

_Her mother was not _**dying**_._

_Tears blurred her vision and she tripped on the carpet once or twice but she kept running, her flats padding on the soft flooring beneath her quickly as she hurried to get to the room._

_She had to make it._

_Coming to a halt, she opened the mahogany door to her parents' shared bedroom and fresh tears made their way to the surface as she took in the pale figure of her once healthy mother._

_She was laying there on the double bed and holding the father's hand in hers, smiling softly at him._

_At first she thought she was too late as she was so still, but seeing the small rise and fall of her mother's chest made her mentally sigh in relief._

_Softly closing the door like she was taught, she walked to her mother's side, opposite her father, and sat on the bed, gripping her mother's frail had in hers like her father was doing, still crying._

_Layla smiled sadly at her only daughter. She didn't __want to leave her- definitely not- but she doesn't __have a choice. Her daughter should be smiling and laughing, not crying like she was at the moment. She lifted her hand from Lucy's grasp and placed it gently on her cheek._

_"__Lucy," she spoke softly, "Don't cry my star."_

_"__But mama, you're dying." Lucy choked out, the last word cracking slightly. Saying it out loud only made it 100 times worse but she held in her tears for her mother._

_"__I know and that's a part of the life we live but Lucy, my dear, I want you to do something for me." Layla spoke again and seeing her daughter nod once she continued a bit more urgently this time, "There are some people who believe that Celestial Spirits and their masters are weak and even some Celestial mages treat their Spirits like tools and shields-"_

_"__But mama," Lucy interrupted, "Aren't __Celestial Spirits our friends like you said?"_

_"__Yes my dear they are but some people don't see it that way so they mistreat them. I want you to prove those people wrong Lucy. I want you to become the strongest Celestial Spirit mage to ever walk Earthland but most importantly," she took a deep breath to steady herself, this was it after all, "I want you to become the Celestial Guardian. I want you to protect the stars that grant you their powers. Protect them from the people that want to do wrong with their magic. The power of the stars is stronger than most people realise and is a dangerous force that could destroy all of Earthland with its power and some people have realised it. Those people will either use that power to hurt others or try to get rid of such magic so they will have an ultimate chance of controlling the world. If you become the Celestial Guardian, you will have to train extremely hard and I understand if you don't-"_

_"__I'll do it!" Lucy stated, nodding her head furiously._

_Layla looked at Lucy in as much shock as her weakened state would manage. She was happy, of course, but this was a lifetime thing and she didn't __want her to regret it afterward._

_"__Are you sure Lucy? People may come after you because of this and the training as I said will be tough and-"_

_"__But you asked me didn't __you?" Lucy interrupted once more, smiling sweetly at her mother, "It's your last wish to me and I want to keep it. I don't care for the risks and if I face any I will overcome them but most importantly, I _want_ to do it. I want to protect the Celestial Spirits because they are not only your friends, they are mine and I want to keep them safe, even at the cost of my own life."_

_Layla sighed as she gazed at Lucy's determined expression and she felt all the fight leave her. She smiled weakly at her daughter's enthusiasm and held up her pinkie finger to Lucy who looked at it in query,_

_"__Promise me then," Layla's voice was becoming strained from the effort to even speak, "promise me that if I give you my keys that you'll become the Celestial Guardian and protect the Celestial Spirits, not with your life, because my star, you do not die for your Spirits, you live to protect them and all you will meet on your journey." Lucy linked her pinkie finger with her mother and replied,_

_"__I promise mama. And a Celestial mage never breaks her promise." In that moment, Lucy watched her mother's eyes dim and her slight smile become the last expression she made and the grip on her pinkie slackened as both of her hands dropped to the bed cold and lifeless._

_The smile on Lucy's face wavered as the tears she was holding back slid down her cheeks in rapid intervals. She wailed and hiccupped __and she didn't __realise when Jude re-entered the room nor did she realise when she was brought back to her bedroom. No, she didn't __realise any of this because her mother, her mentor, her _light_ just died and she was never coming back._

* * *

_*One week later*_

_The funeral for her mother was bigger than expected._

_People that she had never even seen or heard of spoke kind words of comfort to her and her father and even though she tried to smile and return her thanks, her father did not. _

_He just sat there the entire time, his face blank as he stared at the casket._

_Even as the guests spoke to him, the ceremony went on and even as the casket went down in the grave and a stone angel was placed behind it, he did nothing but stare at it._

_Only as the last guest left and it was just her and her father did he react._

_He got up from his seat in the front row and knelt down in front of the grave and did something she never thought she would see her father do._

_He cried._

_She didn't __know what to make of her father crying._

_Her father was her protector from scary things and a brave person but now he looked nothing like that._

_He looked heartbroken as he knelt at the grave and he didn't __need to open his eyes for her to see the despair that was in them._

_Slowly, she walked up to him and placed a small hand on his shoulder._

_As soon as contact was made, he dragged her into his arms and crushed her against his body._

_His body shook with the sobs that tore from him and that had immediately caused another round of crying from Lucy as the two held onto each other as they mourned the loss of Layla Heartfilia._

_Half an hour later, Jude finally wiped the last of his tears, stood up and went inside, leaving Lucy to herself._

_Sniffling, she placed her palm flat on the tombstone and whispered,_

_"__I promise that I will fulfill __your last wish__, to train hard to become the Celestial Guardian and to protect all that I love. But I also promise to live my life with all I have and to never regret. I promise to never forget and to always love you, now and forever until my dying breath." She breathed in, "All this I promise to you as a Celestial mage, a Heartfilia, and most of all, as your daughter Lucy and as long as I live, I will never break this promise."_

* * *

*Two years later*

*X779*

Lucy huffed as she dodged another attack from Aquarius. The 12 year old blonde was currently training in the huge backyard near a fountain where she had summoned the Water Bearer. Just as she promised, she had been training for the past two years and she had gotten much stronger, but not strong enough yet. Dodging another torrent of water, she lashed out with her whip, wrapping it around the Spirit's urn and pulling it away from her. A whistle blew, signalling the end of the match and she turned to look at her other Spirit, Capricorn. She walked over to him sluggishly, closing Aquarius' gate with a wave of her key.

Handing her a bottle of water, the goat Spirit begins to go over her stats for this match, but she was hardly listening.

She would normally listen to him but today, her thoughts always drifted back to something, or some_one_.

Her father.

Her father, who held onto her like a life line on the day of her mother's burial.

Her father, who became cold and distant afterward, began drowning himself in his work, and never even stopped to speak to her anymore.

The same person, who she made a rice ball for on _her_ birthday a year ago and he threw it away and yelled at her to go away.

She had been terrified and tried her best to stay out of his way and continue her training from that day onward.

But the conversation from yesterday was ringing in her ears and she couldn't focus on Capricorn as he spoke about her menu for the week.

Her father had called her into his office.

Not personally of course, but by servant.

Unfazed, as this was usual behavior, Lucy had taken the short journey to her father's office and knocked on the door.

After a gruff 'Come in', she had opened the door and softly closing it, she had stared at the man she once respected.

"Lucy," he had started, "why are you wearing such ridiculous clothing? It is not befitting of a lady of your standards."

She had glanced at her outfit which consisted of a pink dress that once went to the floor that she begged the seamstress to cut so it now went to above the knees and a pair of white sandals she usually wore around the house. She opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off.

"You will have to get rid of those as you meet your suitor." At this Lucy froze. Suitor? At 12 years old? When she had asked him this he had replied,

"Of course, this is an appropriate age for you to have a suitor. You will be meeting him in a week's time and if all goes well, when you turn 16, you will be wed. Understood?"

Understood? Is he crazy?

"Are you crazy?! I'm not marrying anyone until I fulfill mama's wish and I am definitely not marrying anyone at 16-"

"You are meeting this suitor whether you like it or not! You are an heiress, not some silly mage and this dream of yours needs to be squashed immediately." Jude had told her harshly, but she was stuck on his last sentence. She couldn't believe he had said that, wasn't his wife a mage too? Was he so immersed in his work that, not only had he forgotten her, but her mother as well?

"How dare you! This isn't just my 'silly dream'; this is mama's last wish! Did you forget that she was a ma-" She had been cut off abruptly by her father who had slapped her across the face, his hand causing a red mark to appear against her throbbing cheek. She had held her face gingerly and had watched with wide eyes as he yelled at her.

"Do NOT speak to me that way! I am your father and you will do as I say because I own you! Am I clear?!" She felt tears welling in her eyes but she refused to cry because of him so she just nodded her head and exited the room. When she had gotten outside, she had run all the way to her room, not wanting the maids to see the tears on her face and stayed there the entire night long, crying and wishing for her old father back.

"-ma. Lucy-sama!" She was broken out of her thoughts by Capricorn who was staring at her with a worried look on his face.

"Are you okay Lucy-sama? Did you work too hard today?" She shook her head at the Spirit and asked a question that surprised the goat.

"Should I leave this place Capricorn?"

"Do you want to Lucy-sama?"

Lucy sighed and flopped down on the soft grass beneath her before answering,

"At first, I didn't want to. I wanted to stay here and train before going out into the world but that wasn't the only reason. I really was only staying because of my fat- Jude, but now I don't feel the need to."

"Did something happen yesterday Lucy-sama?" The Spirit couldn't help but notice Lucy's distracted mood as she went through her training today. Most of the injuries she got today were only due to her being distracted so he was very worried. The young girl sighed once more and began telling him what happened the previous day.

When she was finished, Capricorn's face had become unreadable. After a few seconds of silence, he spoke again,

"Well Lucy-sama, in the end it is your decision and if you want to stay with Jude then you are free to do so, but if you want to escape however…" A bright grin appeared on Lucy's face as the rest of his sentence died on his lips.

"Ok then Capricorn," she started, getting up and brushing off her pants, "let's get out of here."

* * *

At midnight that night, the blonde haired pre-teen hefted a backpack onto her shoulders and opened the door to her bedroom. Sticking her head out, chocolate brown eyes scanned the hallway for any servants but as planned, the space was empty. Without making a sound, the girl closed the door and began a quick sprint to her escape route.

Soon the girl stopped at a large window that revealed a large tree next to it, its branches looking sturdy enough to hold to young girl's weight. She waited there silently for a few minutes and at exactly 12:10, the guards at the gate switched. Opening the window she steadied her breathing before jumping out and onto a branch. It shook under her weight but fortunately did not break.

'You can do this Lucy.' She reassured herself and turned to climb down the tree quickly.

The guards only took 8 minutes to switch, after all.

The entire climb down took approximately 3 minutes in total which only gave Lucy about five minutes to run to the gate and slip through.

Cursing slightly, she ran across the large garden and past her mother's grave, her short hair whipping behind her lightly, before she finally made it to the gate. Checking her watch she realised she only had 50 seconds left. With a bit of a struggle, she fit her backpack and herself through the narrow bars and she was running once more.

Away from the place she called home for 10 years and a prison for the past 2.

Away from the man she once called her father, who was now only just a man to her.

Towards her dream and her mother's last wish and towards somewhere she could complete it more effectively.

In the morning she would find herself far away from her old home, training even harder than before.

And for the next three years she will train, until the day her life changes forever.

* * *

**Aaand done! Hello all! This is my first fanfiction ever. Usually I prefer reading but the idea came to me and would not leave soooo yeaaahhh...**

**Anyway! You lovely people can call me A-chan and if its not too much trouble, favourite, follow and review!**

**(Don't be mean though! All flames go to my OC Luna until Natsu arrives)**

**P.S. If you're looking for a story to read, my profile has a ton of them.**

**Love,**

**A.**


	2. Chapter 2: Three Years Later

**I do not own Fairy Tail. If I did, NaLu would be canon since the Phantom Lord arc.**

* * *

*Three years later*

*Year X782*

The now 15 year-old Lucy was perched on a branch hidden from view, an arrow nocked in a wooden bow as she stared at her target; a bunny. She didn't like killing bunnies but living on fish and berries got a bit bland after a while and going into the city nearby to spend any jewels on meat was out of the question.

She had to save for that next key of course.

Narrowing her eyes at the small creature, she released the arrow and watched as it landed in the middle of the unsuspecting rabbit's head, killing it instantly.

Jumping from the branch, bow in hand and landing next to the rabbit, she took the arrow out of its head and looked at it sadly,

"Poor bunny-chan, I'm sorry I killed you but I was hungry and you will go well with my stew. Besides, Capricorn is evaluating me today and I have to do my best or else he'll withhold my new present for another 2 weeks," She grumbled to it but soon stopped; she talked to her kill far too often.

The jangle of the keys at her hip made her smile as she thought about all of the keys she collected so far.

She only found one gold key so far and that was the Bull, Taurus.

Taurus was a pervert beyond recognition. Every time he was summoned, he commented on her 'beautiful body' that she was developing currently. She was contracted with him for 2 years now and even though his comments on her body are some she could live without hearing, he made a lovely addition to the team with his giant axe.

But, for the only gold key she found, she had contracted five Sliver keys.

Just days after she had left the mansion, she had stumbled upon, quite literally, the keys of the Wolf, Lupus and the Fox, Vulpecula.

Lupus had the form of a young girl, barely looking past the age of 12 and had her silver hair fastened into a ponytail, reaching her waist and tied with a black bow with two bangs framing her face. A pair of silver wolf ears sat on her head and a silver tail swished behind her leisurely most of the time. Her turquoise eyes were covered by square framed black glasses that helped her with her magic. She also had pale skin. Lucy was a bit surprised to find out that Lupus was not a fighting Spirit, but instead wrote all types of magic runes and the glasses helped speed up writing and decoding runes. She had soon found this helpful as she kept the wild animals away as she slept. She wore a black mini yukata with sakura petals as the designs. The rims and sash were a light pink and she wore a pair of black getas on her feet. She could be summoned every day except Friday when she would be playing chess with the Southern Cross, Crux.

Vulpecula or Vulpi, however, was another story. She was a fully grown woman that looked like 22 with an extraordinary figure and a pair of reddish-brown fox ears rested on her head and a bushy tail the same color accompanied them. She wore a deep purple halter bikini top with white stars on it and deep purple gypsy skirt that had a slit running up both sides. A pair of gold sandals was on her feet. Her reddish-brown hair was straight and reached mid-back where it curled inwardly at the ends and her small amber eyes were always full of mischief. That suited her well as she used Illusion magic; she liked to use to pull tricks on her opponents and even her own master. She had the same schedule as Lupus but she had told Lucy she was playing 'adult games' instead of chess.

Both were extremely loyal to their master and although Lucy had told them that they were friends and equals, they still called her 'Master'.

She couldn't do anything about it so she let it be.

After a few weeks of living on any berries and fruits she could find, Lucy had gotten upset and had wanted some meat in her diet. Capricorn would have gotten some for her from the Celestial Spirit World but she convinced him that she needed to learn to hunt for herself but he couldn't teach her as he wasn't familiar with the task.

Thus the key of Orion the Hunter was acquired.

Orion was a tall Spirit, just a bit shorter than Capricorn, and was a very handsome 20 year old. His black hair was shaggy and his bangs fell over his eyebrows, almost reaching his narrow forest green eyes. He was tan and he usually wore a deep V-neck brown T-shirt that showed his toned chest and an army print cargo pants that were tucked into a pair of black combat boots. A quiver that held several arrows was attached to his back along with his bow, and a rifle was strapped to his right side along with a dagger on his left. He could be summoned on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays as he usually spent time practicing his own skills.

When she had first summoned him and she had asked him to train her in archery, he had outright refused. But after some begging that went on for weeks and finally using the puppy dog eyes on him, they had come to a compromise.

He would teach her the little archery he knew (he only had the equipment as a last resort; he liked to use his rifle and dagger more) and how to use a dagger, (Capricorn refused to let her use a gun, he had said something about shooting herself) and in exchange, she would find his hunting dogs; Canis Major and Minor, the Greater and Lesser dogs.

She wasn't having success finding either.

For her 13th birthday, she had received Lyra, the Lyre, who could be summoned three days a month. Lucy knew that Capricorn had given her the key because of the nightmares she had sometimes, so Lyra's voice helped her calm down and go back to sleep. Other than that, Lucy found the young girl to be good company and usually brought her out to gossip with Lupus or Vulpi.

The last key she had contracted was the key of the Winged Horse, Pegasus. The beautiful stallion stood at the height of a regular horse and was a sparkling white color. His golden mane and tail were silky to the touch and he had the darkest pair of black eyes she had ever seen. Pegasus' wings were a pure white that when reflected in the moonlight, showed the rainbow's colors .He was available every day and he could obviously fly, but there was another power it possessed; he had a dark form. She had only summoned its dark form once and she had been drained of magic as soon as she was finished for the rest of the day.

Aquarius, surprisingly, forbid her from using that form unless she could do it without passing out right afterward.

She had been shocked somewhat, but nonetheless touched by the protective gesture of the harsh Spirit.

She could use that form twice a month and it was much faster than its regular form, so she'd been told.

She had improved with her whip, could open 2 Golden gates or one Golden and two Silver gates at the same time, learned how to strengthen her punches and kicks using her Celestial magic and how to manipulate her magic into condensed spheres of starlight that she could control well and do many other things. She also improved her strength for something important, as Capricorn says.

So all in all, her training was going quite well.

Humming to herself as she re-entered the clearing she had set up for herself, she began to skin and prepare the rabbit for lunch. Gathering some herbs and vegetables from her mini garden she cut those up and started a fire using wood Taurus had cut for her.

Soon enough, her pot of rabbit stew was cooking and she got lonely. Twirling a Silver key in her hand she chanted,

"Open! Gate of the Wolf, Lupus!"

The sound of a bell was followed by a poof of smoke and Lupus stood there, pushing her glasses up on her face.

"What can I do for you Master?" Lucy sent a pointed look at Lupus but didn't say anything about the name. Instead she replied,

"I got lonely so I summoned you so we could talk. Were you busy?" The wolf girl shook her head and moved to sit next to her summoner on the ground,

"No, but isn't Capricorn giving you an evaluation today? Shouldn't you be resting?"

"Nah, I'm gonna ace my evaluation today even if I summon you or not. He always seems to go easy on me anyway."

"So why did you fail last time if he always goes easy on you?" Lucy turned her head to the side, a small blush adorning her cheeks,

"W-whatever! I just wasn't prepared for when Vulpi created that illusion." After she said this, one of her keys began to glow faintly. Opening the pouch, she groaned at which key it was but still plucked it off the key ring anyway.

"Open! Gate of the Fox, Vulpecula!"

Just like with Lupus, the sound of a bell echoed through her ears followed by a poof of smoke and Vulpi stood there, smirking down at her.

"Were you just talking about the spectacular defeat of Master from when I created the illusion of-" The rest of her sentence was cut off when Lucy tackled her to the ground, her hand on her mouth preventing her from saying any more.

"Mmh-mmm, mmh-mm, mm mmh,"

"What was that I can't hear you?" Lucy teased, smirking at the girl underneath her, but soon cringed as something wet glided across her palm. She quickly removed her palm with a long 'Ewww' but instantly regretted it as Vulpi spoke,

"Gotcha. Illusion: Masterpiece 1." A poof of smoke similar to her Spirits' own surrounded the area and when it was cleared, Lucy almost fainted from the heat that grew on her face.

A man, about 19 years old, stood in front of them. He was very pale and had long, shiny black hair tied at the back of his neck and alluring crimson eyes. He was shirtless, which revealed a six-pack and black jeans that rode low on his hips, showing his V-line. He was extremely sexy but what made Lucy overheat was the fact that he was completely soaked. His pants stuck to his legs and the bangs on his forehead did the same. Every drop of water that flowed from his collarbone to the crevices of his abs and finally past the waistband of his pants Lucy followed with her eyes while drooling until Vulpi, who was now standing next to her, spoke up.

"Pretty sweet huh? I created him for distraction during battles...…..and other stuff..." She trailed off at the end until she noticed someone was missing.

"Lupus, where are y-" Vulpi stopped and even Lucy tore her eyes away from the illusion only to laugh at the sight that greeted her.

There, on the ground, was Lupus who was so red that steam flowed out of her ears and a thin trickle of blood leaked from her nostrils.

"Is she dead?" Vulpi asked between laughs. Lucy barely managed a shrug of her shoulders before a delicious aroma entered her nose. She sniffed twice before grinning.

"My stew is done! Oi Vulpi, get Lupus, the stew is done!"

"Don't eat too much! Capricorn is still evaluating you today!"

* * *

*Time skip*

*4 hours later*

Lucy was on Pegasus' back, flying through the area, searching for what caused the unstable spike in magic she had felt during her evaluation. Passing a set of trees, she gasped.

An entire town, engulfed in flames that only seemed to be growing stronger was what she was met with, but the stench of death and burning flesh was not in the air, making her believe all the citizens had been evacuated. Turning her head to the side she found the source of magic.

A gigantic beast with glowing purple eyes was staring at something she couldn't see.

There was something about the beast that felt strange and unnatural, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was.

Feeling a bit brave, she moved forward to get a better look and saw two white haired girls; one on her knees, looking beat up and panting and one with her arms behind her back.

She was talking to the beast.

"Elf nii-chan, what's the matter? It's your little sister Lisanna… Did you forget Mira-nee too?" The beast growled slightly and she cocked her head to the side and smiled brightly.

"There's no way you'd forget us, right Elf nii-chan? Because we both love you very much!" The beast narrowed his eyes and Lucy wanted to scream at that girl to run away but the determination to save her brother from himself was incredible so she stayed quiet for now, but still tense and ready just in case something happened.

The beast roared and lifted his arm to strike the girl, but she just smiled and outstretched her arms to the sides,

"Let's go home 'kay?"

Lucy thought the beast was going to stop and revert back to normal and everything would be fine.

But this was the real world and things don't always work out how you want them to.

The beast brought down his arm and hit the girl.

She flew.

"LISANNA!"

"Pegasus, let's go!"

With a flap of the horse's wings, Lucy was soaring through the sky after the girl.

The girl, Lisanna, was going at a faster rate Lucy was.

"Faster!"

Even at full speed, Pegasus was still too slow.

She had to change him.

Aquarius be damned.

Without a moment's hesitation, she screamed out.

"Pegasus, dark form!"

There was a flash of light that lasted a few seconds before it died down to show Lucy on an entirely different horse.

Pegasus' body and wings were now a midnight blue and his mane and tail were now bright silver. His eyes had turned from black to golden.

Lucy felt her magic drain almost completely and she blacked out for a split second from the sudden loss but she still held on.

This form was much faster indeed as in a few seconds she caught up to Lisanna.

Flying in front of her, she held out her arms and Lisanna slammed into her body, but the impact forced Lucy backwards…

And off of the horse.

Pegasus was about to go after the two but felt his body disappearing back into the Spirit World as Lucy didn't have enough magic to sustain him in this world anymore. So he watched in horror as his Master plummeted to the ground at an alarming rate as his body turned into stardust.

Lucy's and Lisanna's hair whipped all around them as they fell through the sky.

"Crap," Lucy muttered as she searched her magic container. Even her reserves were low so she couldn't summon a shield. She really shouldn't have summoned Lupus and Vulpi today.

She looked at the girl in her arms. Her breathing was shallow and her magic was extremely faint but she was holding on.

Tucking Lisanna's head into the crook of her neck, Lucy wrapped her body around Lisanna's and braced herself for the impact.

*BOOM*

Lucy hit the side of the mountain and coughed up blood from the impact. Blood dripped down the side of her face alerting her of the cut on her head and she rolled over so Lisanna was under her.

She looked fine except from the small cuts the debris caused.

"Lisanna!" Lucy looked up to see the second white haired girl, Mira, coming toward them.

She moved away a bit to give them some space.

"Lisanna, wake up!" Mira pleaded with tears welling up in her eyes.

Suddenly, an invisible force of magic hit them but only Lucy felt it and Lisanna's body began glowing, but no one else's.

Whatever it was, it was sucking Lisanna into it.

But why only her?

Was it because of the little magic she had left? Or because of her injuries?

Whatever the reason she had to be healed or else she would be gone.

But Lucy didn't have healing magic, did she?

Wait a minute…

Celestial magic _did_ have healing properties and Lucy did learn about magic transfer from Capricorn….

"What magic does she use?" Lucy asked suddenly, startling Mira.

"Take-over: Animal Soul." Lucy nodded and pushed Mira to the side.

"Take-over magic works well with a transfer with Celestial magic because of its diversity." She muttered absentmindedly, moving her hands over Lisanna's chest.

"What are you doing?" Mira questioned when she saw Lucy's body begin to glow the same way as her sister's, but because of her magic.

Lucy ignored her and the hot burning of the keys at her side and built up her remaining magic until all her magic was gathered.

Putting her hands on Lisanna's chest, she shouted,

"Magic Transfer: Celestial to Take-over!"

A bright light consumed the area, making Lucy squint her eyes and Mira look away, and it when it disappeared; it revealed Lucy and Mira…

And Lisanna.

Her magic levels were still low, but they were stable and her breathing had returned to normal.

Fresh tears of happiness brimmed in Mira's eyes and she turned to thank the girl who saved her sister only to see her swaying dangerously to the side, her eyes dim.

Black spots swarmed Lucy's vision as she fell to the side, her body weak from overexertion and magic depleted completely.

The last thing she saw was Mira's concerned face before everything went black.

* * *

**Aaand done! Normally I wouldn't post so often buuut as a reader I get a bit sad when chapters don't get updated so here you are.**

**To my 1st reviewer Digi-fanCatt: Thank you *bows***

**Also, what's your favorite anime besides Fairy Tail,**

**Mine is Sailor Moon.**

**Leave your answer in the review and if you want review, follow and favorite.**

**Until next time,**

**A. **


	3. Chapter 3 Strange People and Fairy Tail

**Super Important question after chapter.****I do not own Fairy Tail, nor the characters, except for other Spirits and the possible OCs involved.**

* * *

_Lucy would have never thought she would end up in a dark space like this. _

_But here she was, and it was not fun._

_"Hello! Is anyone here?" Lucy yelled as she looked around the dark space for the fifth time. She sighed as she plopped down onto the floor? Or was it the ceiling? She wasn't sure as it was too dark to even see her own body. Why was she here anyway?_

_Did she die?_

_'I'm pretty sure I didn't.' She thought inwardly, trying to see in the infinite darkness though it was no use. Maybe she was in between life and death because those above couldn't decide whether or not to condemn her to hell for killing all those bunnies. _

_She was hungry! She didn't mean to...sorta._

_She didn't even have her keys to pass the time with nor did she have any magic._

_She was absolutely bored out of her mind._

**_"Lucy…"_**

_Oh great, a mysterious voice was calling for her now._

_She looked to the left to see who was calling her name._

**_"Lucy…"_**

_She looked to the right and saw a white light that seemed to beckon her closer. _

_Was the voice coming from there?_

**_"Lucy…"_**

_Why was it calling her? Was it going to take her into the afterlife? Or maybe it was going to take her to Ice-Cream Land?_

_"Wherever it is," she mused aloud, "it's better than here."_

_Walking toward the light slowly just in case it really was taking her to the afterlife, she began weighing the pros and cons of there and Ice-Cream Land._

_'If I go to the afterlife, mama might be there and that'd be pretty cool but if I go to Ice-Cream Land, I would be able to eat all the ice-cream in the world. Hmm, but if I go to the afterlife or Ice-Cream Land I wouldn't be able to see if the girl, Lisanna was it? Anyway I want to see if she actually survived and I did promise Orion that I would find his Hunting Dogs and don't forget about mama's promise. I don't think she'd be very happy if I showed up there without fulfilling it.'_

_Sighing again as she reached the warm light, she cupped her hands to her mouth and yelled into it._

_"Oi, mysterious voice! You better not be taking me to the afterlife or Ice-Cream Land, I've made some promises and I'm not dying until I've fulfilled all of them!"_

_With that, the light engulfed her then disappeared as if it was never there._

* * *

_On the other side, Lucy looked around in confusion._

_Instead of more darkness or infinite amounts of ice-cream, she was in a meadow._

_The sky was a bright blue and the clouds were white and fluffy like cotton candy._

_The soft, green grass tickled at her bare feet and seemed to stretch on forever._

_She was wearing a pure white spaghetti strap summer dress that skimmed her knees and her hair that was held down by a straw hat fell around her shoulders in soft golden waves._

_She was about to shout but froze when her eyes caught someone not too far away from her._

_They were wearing a dress similar to hers but their golden hair was piled into a soft bun on top of their head. They also didn't wear any shoes._

_'No,' she thought, 'it couldn't be.'_

_But she was sure when she heard the person speak._

_"I'm glad you're still keeping your promises my star."_

_"Ma-mama?" Lucy whispered in disbelief. Her mother smiled kindly in reply and Lucy took off in a sprint, her hat flying off in the wind._

_"Mama!" She jumped into her mother's arms and held her tightly, Layla returning the hug with fervor._

_After a few seconds, Lucy pulled away, a look of horror on her face._

_"Does this means that I died? Oh no, I can't be dead, I haven't even lived yet!" As Lucy continued to rant while walking in circles and flailing her arms, Layla looked at her daughter in amusement before giggling._

_Hearing her mother's laughter, Lucy stopped and stared at her._

_"Did you bring me here?" Layla stopped giggling and nodded her head._

_"Why? Where is here anyway?"_

_"This is a subspace that one of my old friends created for me so I could give you something. I was supposed to come when you dreaming but this can work too."_

_"Old friend?" Layla nodded and seeing that Lucy was going to ask another question, she continued,_

_"I don't have enough time to speak to you, only enough to give you these and explain what they are."_

_She handed Lucy a medium sized chest and when she opened it, it revealed a leather book and three keys._

_The book looked fairly normal but the keys did not._

_Instead of them being gold or silver, one was made of sapphire, the second was made of blue moonstone and the third was made of ruby. The signs on the keys were blurred so she could not tell who they were for._

_"What keys are these, mama?"_

_"I cannot tell you. These keys will only be available to you in an extreme time of need and they take great amounts of magic to summon. The book contains spells my old friend thought you would need to complete your task of protecting the Celestial Spirits. Take your time in reading them; they may be helpful to you."_

_"Why can't I read the signs?"_

_"That is precautionary measure my old friend put in place. If you tried to summon it before you were ready, the key would drain all of your magic and you would die."_

_Lucy didn't reply, but stared at the chest in her translucent hands-_

_Wait, what?!_

_"What the heck!" she exclaimed as her eyes widened at her body that was now fairly see through._

_"It's time for you to wake up now." She glanced up at Layla who was smiling solemnly at her. Smiling back at her as her body began to fade out of the subspace; she barely made out the tears on her mother's smiling face before she disappeared._

* * *

Lucy groaned as her eyes fluttered open. Every inch of her hurt and it felt as if something fairly heavy was sitting on her chest. Pushing it off and sitting up, ignoring her sore back's protest, she realized it was the chest that she received from her mother. It was then she noticed she was not where she had passed out on that mountain anymore; she was on a rather comfortable bed. The air smelt of antiseptics and cleaning supplies and the bed next to hers was unmade so she came to the conclusion that she was in an infirmary and someone was in here with her until recently.

Maybe Mira had brought her back here?

Shrugging her shoulders and instantly regretting it as pain shot through them, she got up out of bed and inspected her injuries.

Her back was heavily bandaged along with her arms and she flinched with she touched the bandaged covered wound on her head. Her magic container was about three-quarters full so that means she was asleep for about one to one and a half days.

Her clothes had been changed to a light pink loose tank top and grey cotton sweat shorts. A pair of flip flops was at the side of the bed and she slipped those on.

Walking toward the door, she heard loud chatter and what sounded like something breaking coming from the outside. Opening it, she walked through a short hallway and into a large open area filled with many rambunctious people talking and laughing.

Scanning the room as she was not noticed as yet, she saw a blue haired petite girl who was wearing glasses reading a book with two boys fawning over her, a brunette who seemed way too young that was drinking out of a barrel and talking to a man that was smoking and another with purple hair, a red head that was eating strawberry cake, a raven haired shirtless male who was fighting with a pink haired boy that had on a scaly scarf and a white haired male who was talking to two familiar white haired girls. Locking eyes with the oldest, she gasped, catching the attention of the people in the room who immediately turned to look in her line of sight and at Lucy. The noise died down to an unnatural degree as everyone stared at the newcomer who began to shift uncomfortably at all the eyes on her.

That is, until she was tackled by the one she had saved.

"Thank you so much for saving me!" Lisanna cried, squeezing Lucy and unintentionally aggravating her injuries. That seemed to have snapped them out of their stupor as they began to swarm the two girls and fire off questions in rapid succession.

"You saved Lisanna! That's awesome!"

"What magic did you use?"

"Mira said that you were riding on a Pegasus? Where did you get it?"

Lucy couldn't keep up with the questions until the crowd parted and the pink haired boy from before stood there, his bangs covering his eyes.

Getting up and helping Lisanna to her feet, she walked over to the boy.

She did not expect to be crushed against his chest as soon as she got in reach.

Being pulled like that brought back unwanted memories of her father, but she decided to indulge in the smoky scent and the warmth he possessed instead as she wrapped her arms around his torso.

"Thank you," he whispered, his voice shaking, "for saving her. She's my best friend and if you weren't there when you were and she had died I-"

"Shh," Lucy cooed, rubbing his back comfortingly, "it's ok. She didn't die, now did she? That's all that matters. Don't dwell on what could have been; think on what did happen and the effects of it, whether they were good or bad. I was there and I saved her, and that was a good thing, wasn't it? And that is what truly matters."

A few more seconds passed before a throat cleared, causing the two to break apart. Everyone was staring at them in either shock or adoration, which caused Lucy to blush lightly but it went away as she caught sight of the short man that held a powerful aura standing in front of her.

"Hello there! And who might you be?" He spoke cheerfully.

"Lucy."

"No last name?" She hesitated slightly this time before shaking her head.

"No, sir. May I ask who you are?"

"I'm a bit surprised you don't know. I'm Master Makarov, master of this guild, Fairy Tail and that boy is Natsu Dragneel." Lucy furrowed her eyebrows in thought as Makarov moved to sit down on a bench top and motioned for Lucy to come over, which she complied to.

She had heard of the workings of a guild and Cancer had been discussing some with her while he was doing her hair last time, but she had been prolonging joining one for a while.

"Why were you in the area at that time? Everyone in the town was supposed to be evacuated." She glanced up at him.

"I used to live in the forest nearby and was doing some training when I felt an unstable spike in magic so I went to see what it was."

"May I ask what magic you use?"

"I'm a Celestial mage." Reaching for her key pouch on her hip, she frowned as he encountered air. Glancing down, her eyes widened as she looked down at the empty space where her keys usually were.

"Where are they?" A tap on the shoulder made Lucy turn around in her seat and she was handed her key pouch by Mira.

"I picked it up when you collapsed and I was holding it for you. As you probably know, I'm Mirajane, but you can call me Mira. The girl you saved was Lisanna and the one that was taken over by the beast was our brother Elfman. Thank you for saving her. But I didn't know that Celestial mages could heal?"

"They can't. I used a spell called Magic Transfer that I learned from Capricorn, one of my Spirits. It allows you to transfer the magic that you use and its components to another person as long as that person's magic is compatible with your own. Celestial mages can't heal per se, but Celestial magic itself has healing components so my magic healed her injuries a bit while stabilizing her magic levels simultaneously. Take-over magic is a diverse magic as it doesn't have many limitations on what can be taken over so it links well with Celestial magic." Lucy explained.

"Do you think you would be able to lend me that book when you're finished? Celestial magic is as rare as it is and I hardly have information on it anyway," The blue haired girl from before asked. When Lucy nodded her head she squealed.

"Thank you! I'm Levy by the way." Lucy chuckled at the girl's enthusiasm. Maybe she had some good book recommendations for her.

A hum and warm glow came from one of her keys, making her jump and open the pouch. Gulping at the key she took it off of the ring.

"Can I borrow a glass of water?" Mira handed her a glass of water and she walked outside with it.

Curious, some of the guild members followed Lucy outside where she dipped the key in the water and chanted,

"Open! Gate of the Water Bearer, Aquarius!"

*Ding Dong*

"You stupid brat! Of all the things I told you not to do, you do it and almost kill yourself?! I _told_ you not to change Pegasus' form unless you could do it without passing out but what do you do? You completely ignore everything I tell you and do it anyway! Is it because you think I'm _dumb_?! Huh?!" The furious Spirit roared as she shot jets of water from her urn to Lucy and all the bystanders who got in the way.

"I'm sorry, Aquarius!" Lucy said, dodging the water. Aquarius stopped attacking them suddenly and punched Lucy softly on the head.

"Do you know how worried we were when Pegasus came back and told us what happened? When all of a sudden we couldn't even feel your magic anymore? Capricorn couldn't even pass through his gate by himself to tell us how you were so we had to wait until you woke up yourself. Don't do stupid things like that anymore, ok brat?"

"You know I can't promise that Aqua-san, but I'll try to do stupid things less often." Lucy smiled when Aquarius 'tch'd' and returned to the Spirit World.

"Lucy-san," Lisanna said, catching Lucy's attention, "sorry that you got into so much trouble with your Spirit." Lucy ruffled Lisanna's hair.

"First off, you can call me Lucy-chan or just Lucy; saying -san makes me feel old and we're friends. Secondly, don't apologize. Aquarius is always like that and besides, I don't regret it. If anything, saving you made my decision much easier."

"What decision, Lucy-chan?"

"My decision to join a guild."

Lisanna grinned brightly and Lucy returned with a grin of her own.

"Are you really joining Fairy Tail?"

"Yup, but I can only join if Master Makarov accepts me first." Lisanna grabbed Lucy's hand and dragged her back into the guild where Makarov was sitting on the bar, drinking a beer.

"Master, Lucy wants to join the guild." Makarov cracked open one eye and stared at Lucy, his face dead serious but she held her ground.

The expression was soon broken as a wide smile threatened to split his face.

"Of course she can!" Leaning behind the bar, he picked up a stamp.

"What color and where?" Lucy thought for a moment.

"At the back of my right hand in pink, please." Makarov pressed the stamp to her hand and seconds later, the pink Fairy was on her hand, signalling her membership.

"Oi, brats," The guild quieted down to hear what their Master had to say, "We have a new member. Her name is Lucy and I want you to treat her like family okay?"

The guild roared in agreement and the biggest party Lucy had ever seen took place that night.

She had her first drink of alcohol from the brunette called Cana, watched with Lisanna and Levy as Natsu and Elfman got into a brawl with the naked guy named Gray who apparently had a stripping habit, laughed as they were beaten up by the red head known as Erza for crushing her strawberry cake and became good friends with all the people there, all in one night.

As she almost spit out her drink from laughing when Master squished Natsu with a giant fist, she knew she had found her second family.

And she was not letting them go.

* * *

In a place unreachable by human means stood a girl, the age of 18, her red orange hair styled into a ponytail braid that reached her behind.

"So what you're telling me is that I can't leave until this girl can open my gate? _And_ I have to watch over her?" She asked the great figure that towered over her. Even though his size would have intimidated anyone else, the girl spoke to him as if he was inferior to her.

And in a way, he was.

"Yes, that is what I have said to you." The figure replied, his deep voice making the sky around them rumble.

"But I have to look for my sister. If she snaps, not even your Guardian would be able to help you." The blue eyed girl countered, making the giant sigh.

"Okay then, once a week every month, you will be allowed to search for you sister. If you get back any later, I will provoke your privilege and you will only be able to leave when your Master summons you."

"Okay then. Deal." the girl smirked, "But you better hope that _he_ doesn't find me first. If you think an angry girlfriend is bad, you've never seen an angry boyfriend before."

"Anyway," she continued, walking away from him, "I'll see you later King."

When she walked away far enough so she was out of sight, the smirk dropped and was replaced with a frown.

'Why did I end up here?' She questioned herself.

Hopefully she would find her sister before she became unstable again. She really wasn't about fighting and almost being killed in a world she didn't even belong to.

She was _so_ over that.

* * *

**Aaand done! Sorry it took so long but I had to research stuff and school was a huge pain so it took longer than expected to finish this chapter.**

**Before I continue anything else, here is the super important question:**

**What does SYOC stand for and what is it?**

**I know, I know you all are probably like 'Eeehhh?!' but in my defense, figuring out stuff isn't one of my strong suits but confusing myself is so that's why I'm asking you lovely people.**

**So if you do know, leave the answer in the review.**

**Speaking of which, **

**Digi-fanCatt: I've never watched Digimon but playing it was one of my favorite pastimes with my big bro when I was younger.**

**Anyway, that's it for now and have a good day/night eveyone.**

**Love,**

**A.**


	4. Chapter 4 Missions

**I do not own Fairy Tail. If I did, action scenes would be replaced with romance scenes.**

* * *

A lone figure stood on top of a tall hill, looking up at the bright sun that beat down on the town beneath her. The wind blew through her loose, shoulder length purple hair and she let out a breath of frustration. She was here for more than three days already and she still had not found the person she was looking for. Her pale skin contrasted with her dark hair but even in the sun it did not warm or tan and her right eye not covered by the white eye patch was blue.

Glancing over the area once more and being unable to sense the presence of her sister, she stormed off the hill, her mouth in a scowl. She was one of the best trackers in her home and yet she couldn't find the person closest to her?

A familiar darkness crept into her heart at the absence of her sister.

Did she abandon her in this world purposely?

Did she grow fond of this world and no longer wanted to be with her?

Did she forget her?

'If that is the case,' she thought bitterly, her aura turning darker by the second making the greenery around her wilt and die, 'then this world shall crumble to dust by my hands.'

* * *

Lucy faced the request board, a determined look on her face as she skimmed through the requests.

Her magic and injuries were fully recovered and she needed some jewels to pay for a new apartment and buy some clothes because her old ones were lost.

She would have gone earlier but her new friends wanted to make sure that she was healed completely.

She smiled to herself at the thought.

Even though it was only a few days since they had met, she knew they had already become precious to her.

Shaking her head, she glanced at the board once more. Finding the perfect one, she ripped it off and made her way to the bar where Mira was serving.

"Hello, Lucy-chan. Finally convinced Lisanna to let you go on a job?" Mira giggled, startling some of the mages around the bar that hadn't gotten used to her change in attitude.

Apparently Mira the Demon didn't only apply to her magic and she was normally a really cruel person. But after the near death of her sister, her personality had done a 360 and she was nice to everyone.

Lucy couldn't visualize her acting any differently than she was but how the mages acted when she did something girly made her believe them.

Sitting down on one of the bar stools, she handed Mira the request to be written in the mission book.

"Yeah, but she did say that I had to go with someone."

"Go with someone where?" A voice inquired from behind her. Tilting her head back, she grinned at Natsu who returned it, his pointy canines sticking out.

Moving to sit next to her, she answered him.

"I'm going on a job so I can move into an apartment I saw on Strawberry Street but Lisanna says I have to go with someone. Living in the guild is a bit weird." Natsu chuckled in amusement as Mira brought back the request sheet to her.

"Here you go Lucy-chan. Have a safe trip."

"Thanks, Mira. See you Natsu." She slipped off the stool and headed toward the door when Natsu stopped her, his features a bit nervous as he scratched the back of his neck.

"Hey Lucy, Lisanna said that you have to go with someone right? How about I come with you?" Lucy contemplated it for a second before smiling at him.

"Sure! Since you probably have to pack, let's meet at the station in an hour ok?" Natsu beamed in response and sprinted out the door with a wave.

She shook her head at his enthusiasm and looked over the request once more.

It was fairly simple; take out a dark mage that had been terrorizing a town named Onibus for 200,000 jewels and a Silver key. No description was given on the mage so she assumed it would be given to them when they arrived.

Slumping back onto the bar, she only then realized her mistake.

What was she supposed to do for one whole hour? It's not like she had clothes to pack or anything; the only ones she owned were the ones on her body.

But not the ones from the other day, after she took her bath this morning Mira gave her an old pair of shorts and a T-shirt that couldn't fit her anymore.

Luckily, she was saved from her boredom when Levy walked in with her posse which was holding her reading material for the day.

"Levy-chan!" Levy waved her over excitedly to the bench she was sitting at.

"Hey, Lu-chan. I read the book on Celestial mages and their magic; it's so cool. I didn't know Celestial mages could do so much. Usually they only summon Spirits and that's about it but with this book, they can do so much." She said when Lucy had come over and sat down.

"Yeah, but a lot of those mages abuse their Spirits without the abilities of a caster mage so you can imagine what would happen if they could do all of these things? Celestial Spirits would probably only survive because of their immortality."

"I guess so. I've wanted to ask though, how many Gold and Silver keys go you have? How many can you summon at the same time? Is there a limitation to how many you can summon? Can-"

"Okay Levy-chan, slow down with the questions there. I have to meet Natsu at the station for our mission in an hour anyway," Lucy laughed when her friend blushed lightly.

"Sorry, Lu-chan, sometimes I ramble. Are you really going on a mission with Natsu though?"

"Yeah, is something wrong with that?"

"Oh no Lu, definitely not, it's just that Natsu has a tendency to destroy things on missions." Lucy waved off her concern.

"It'll be fine. Natsu won't destroy much. Anyhow, did you forget about your questions?" At this, Levy seemed to brighten, her concerns momentarily forgotten.

"Right, so..." The next forty-five minutes were spent talking about as much books as they could manage before Lucy said goodbye to her blue-haired friend.

"See ya later Lu-chan." Lucy waved to her friend as she went out the door of the guild and set off to the train station, hoping she wasn't late.

* * *

Magnolia, she noticed, has some of the friendliest people she ever met. Even as they went on with their business for the day, they always stopped to speak to their friends and some even spoke to her as she passed.

She hummed to herself as she walked and because her eyes are closed, she failed to notice the male running toward her until they collided.

"Hey, watch where you're going." She said glancing up at the person who pushed her down.

He had spiky orange hair and hazel eyes that were covered with tinted blue sunglasses. He was wearing a green coat with white fur lining it over a light red shirt and black pants.

A playful smirk was on his face as he held out his hand to her.

Taking his hand he helped her up but did not let go.

"Sorry about that beautiful. May I take you to lunch as an apology? I'm Loke."

"No thanks Loke." she bluntly replied, "I have to meet someone at the station." This did not deter him and he tried again.

"He can wait, can't he?" He pressed on, sliding his arm around her waist but froze as he felt something cool on his fingers.

"A-Are you by any chance a Celestial mage?" He stuttered, the blood draining from his face.

"Yes, I am." Quickly, as if she had burned him, he retracted his hand and began to back away from her.

"Sorry, my dear but it seems our romantic escapade must come to an unfortunate end and we will probably never see each other again." And with that he turned and ran away.

'There was no romantic escapade.' Lucy thought as she watched him go.

Putting the meeting to the back of her mind, she continued on her journey.

When she reached the train station, Natsu was standing as far as possible from the tracks talking to a blue cat on his shoulder…

"Well, this isn't one of the weirdest things I've seen so far," she murmured under her breath.

"Hey Natsu." She greeted when she got closer.

"Hey Lucy, this is my best friend and brother, Happy." He introduced the blue feline to her.

"Hello Happy. Nice to meet you Happy." Happy sprouted white wings and flew in front of her face.

"Hi Lushi. Do you have any fish?" He asked cutely. Lucy squealed and hugged him, petting him behind his ears, making him purr.

"Natsu, where did you get him? He's adorable."

"Me and Lisanna hatched him together when we were younger." Though the comment was meant to be cheerful, it came out a bit strained and Natsu's face was a bit green.

"Are you okay Natsu?" Lucy inquired. Happy, who was still in her arms, answered her.

"He's fine Lushi; Natsu just has terrible motion sickness."

"But we're not even on any transportation."

"Exactly, that's how bad it is."

Lucy sighed exasperatedly just as the train rolled into the station. She began walking only to notice that Natsu was not behind her.

"Come on Natsu," she huffed, pulling him to the train while he resisted, "We have to go."

As soon as Lucy finally dragged him onto the train he flopped on the seat next to her, groaning all the way.

The train moved off and Natsu's face became greener and he covered his mouth.

"Ugh," he moaned before opening the window behind him to puke.

"Don't worry Natsu. Onibus isn't that far from Magnolia so you only have to wait a little while." His response was to puke again, leaving Lucy to shake her head at him.

* * *

Fifty minutes later, after they got off the train, revived Natsu and had eaten lunch, the trio made their way to the mayor of Onibus' house near the outskirts of the town. Lucy knocked on the door and out came a short brown haired middle aged man with gray eyes.

"You must be the mages that answered my request! Thank you for coming. Please, come in."

The man led them to the living room and Natsu and Lucy sat on the sofa and the man sat on the chair opposite them.

"My name is Mayor Alfred and the mission is to defeat the dark mage living in the forest nearby and save the women the mage kidnapped."

"The mission didn't state that we had to rescue anyone." Lucy responded.

"I didn't think that someone would come if I put it in."

"What does the person look like?" Happy, who was now on Lucy's head, inquired.

"We don't know. They come in the middle of the night and take our women. We only know it is a dark mage because of the note they left when they took my wife saying that if we ever wanted to see them again, I would have to send a request to the closest Guild, which was yours."

"Yosh!" Natsu exclaimed, getting out of his seat, "We'll get back your people and kick this guy's ass in no time! Come on Happy, Lucy!" Happy followed after him with an 'Aye, sir!'

"Wait Natsu!" she called after him. Turning to the Mayor, she gave him a two-finger salute and winked at him.

"Don't worry sir. We'll definitely get them back, it's a promise."

The Mayor watched as Lucy ran to catch up to Natsu. Snow swarmed around him suddenly and the middle aged man was replaced with a short girl with ice blue hair in twin tails and yellow, cat-like eyes. She wore a slightly over-sized cream hoodie with cat ears on the hood, light green ripped jeans and gray sneakers. A short, thick chain was hooked into the loops of her jeans loosely and two kamas on each side of her hips were supported by it.

"Promise huh?" she muttered, exiting the house.

"I hope you're not the only one who can keep their promises, Lucy Heartfilia." A light blizzard picked up and surrounded the house and the girl in a spiral and when it vanished, the girl was gone and in the house's place was a broken down cottage.

* * *

_To Natsu, Lucy and Happy…_

The trio walked through the sparse forest, searching for the dark mage. An uneasy feeling settled in Lucy as they ventured further in. Living in a forest for a while herself she knows how a forest is supposed to look and sound like; and it definitely did not sound so quiet nor the trees were supposed to look like if someone was pulling them out a chunk at a time.

"Natsu, doesn't this seem weird? The forest is too quiet isn't it?"

"Yeah," Natsu agreed, sniffing the air making Lucy stare at him quizzically "can't even smell anything here."

"Why did you sniff the air?"

"Didn't you know Lushi?" Happy replied for him, "Natsu is a-"

The loud footsteps of a person and the flapping of wings interrupted Happy from going any further and they tensed, waiting for the person to break the tree line.

After what felt like eternity, but was really only a few seconds, the figure stepped out. _She_ had purple shoulder length hair, her bangs swept to the side, and blue eyes but her left eye was covered by a white eye-patch. She wore a sailor-like outfit that consisted of a white short sleeved button up shirt, a black bow and a blood red plaid mini skirt. On her feet were white thigh high socks and black school shoes. Her face was blank and her voice monotone as she spoke to them.

"I see that some mages have responded to my 'request'. Where is my sister?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." They both deadpanned. Her blank face morphed into a frown and her eye narrowed.

"Where is she?"

"I should be asking you that. Where are all the missing girls?" The frown changed to a smirk.

"There are none. That was just a ruse for you to come out here. But since you seem to not know where Alexa is, I'll have to dispose of you."

"What's your name?" the girl raised an eyebrow at the random question but answered anyway,

"Luna."

Without warning, Natsu shot forward, but did not even make it halfway before a small green Wyvern with a black underside instead of white and black soulless eyes barreled straight into him, sending both of them to another part of the forest, Happy on his tail.

Lucy couldn't even check on him as she was blocking a flying kick from Luna. Flipping off of the arm Lucy used to block she lunged forward again, sending a barrage of punches at Lucy who dodged and blocked as much as possible but one particularly hard punch broke through her defenses and hit her in her chin, making her stumble backwards and unable to block a roundhouse kick that forced her to the ground.

"Why do I sense Alexa so near to you yet I cannot see her?" She asked Lucy, standing away from her.

"I don't know." Lucy said getting up quickly. Lucy unclasped her whip and lashed out; Luna dodged but did not expect Lucy to flick her wrist again, the whip hitting the unsuspecting girl in the face.

"You bitch!" She snarled before Lucy lashed out a third time, this time the whip wrapped around her leg and pulling her to the ground. Before Lucy could unwrap it, however, she yanked on it forcing it out of Lucy's hand and ripped it in half. Lucy stared wide eyed at the weapon that now laid in two as Luna got off the ground.

"What's wrong? Did I break the baby's little toy? Aww, poor thing." Luna teased.

Lucy's bangs shadowed her eyes and her hands were fisted tightly at her sides.

"How DARE you! That was given to me by Aquarius! Do you know how precious that was to me?!" Lucy screamed her magic building up.

"What are you going to do abo-" Luna was cut off when Lucy delivered a magic infused punch to her stomach and a kick to the side that sent her flying. She caught herself and flipped over to land on her feet. Sending some of her magic into the air, Lucy chanted,

"Starlight spheres!" Ten spheres of condensed starlight hovered around her head, waiting for her command. She pulled out a key from her side.

"Open! Gate of the Wolf, Lupus!"

"What can I do for you Master?" Lupus asked holding onto her rune pen.

"Beta rune 1 and Gamma rune 1, please." Lupus nodded and got to work.

Ignoring the slight increase of pressure Luna ran to her but barely took five steps before two of the spheres hit the ground in front of her and exploded instantly, sending her through three trees, her back hitting the fourth one harshly, forcing the wind from her lungs. She stared at Lucy's outstretched hand with distaste before getting up and running toward her again, dodging two more spheres and jumping over another one and getting into striking distance.

Feeling Lupus go back to her key Lucy smiled. Grabbing two of the spheres from beside her she threw them in the space between herself and Luna sending the purple haired girl flying until she hit the top of a glass like box with runes written on it. Landing on her arm, she let out a cry of pain and tried to get up on her knees but was hit again.

"Argh!" she cried as she slid across the forest floor. A shadow loomed over her and when she looked up, her eyes widened in fear.

Lucy stood over her, the two remaining spheres hovering over her, pulsing with barely contained energy. Her aura was fully shown; a gold color that seemed to crackle like electricity, levitating her hair slightly. Although she was in the exploding range of the two spheres she had thrown, she was not injured form the blast. Her bangs covered her eyes and her voice was strong as she spoke,

"Do you give up?"

"Y-yes."

"Then leave and _pray_ that if I ever see you again, you can put up a better fight because what you did was _unforgivable_." Luna scampered off the floor and ran away until Lucy couldn't see her outline.

"Luce?" A hesitant voice called out causing Lucy to turn around to face Natsu. He had a few scratches here and there but other than that he looked fine.

"Are you okay? Your aura is flaring a bit." Lucy quickly pulled in her aura and dispersed the last of the spheres.

"Luce?" She questioned.

"It's your new nickname, but I can change it if you want or-" Natsu's rambling was disrupted by Lucy's giggling which elicited a blush from him.

"Luce is fine, Natsu. Now let's go and get our reward." Grabbing his wrist she pulled him along producing laughter from both of them as they raced back to the Mayor's house. Happy trailed behind them at a distance, his paws covering his mouth to stifle his own laughter.

"They lllllliiiikkkkeee each other."

* * *

"What the hell is this?" Natsu asked as he pushed open the door of the rickety old cottage.

"I don't even know. Wasn't the Mayor's house here?" Lucy pondered, scanning the house. Spotting two sacks and a note she picked up the note and read it.

_Lucy Heartfilia,_

_In those sacks are your rewards split evenly._

_The house and mayor were illusions of sorts created by me _

_Do not ask any of the people in the town about a Mayor_

_There is none._

_Protect your new keys with all of your strength and train hard_

_For the battle between good and evil has only begun._

_Dawn._

"Who is Dawn?" Lucy shrugged and tossed him a sack and opened hers. Rummaging around in hers she pulled out a Silver key and beamed. Bounding past Natsu and out the door she summoned it.

"I am linked to the path of the world of Celestial Spirits, now! O spirit, answer my call and pass through the gate! Open! Gate of the Greater Dog, Canis Major!"

*Ding Dong*

Standing in front of her was a white fluffy dog that reached her knee. It had a strange orange nose and black eyes and its tail wagged behind him.

"Okay, let's get started. I have Orion's key so I was wondering if you wanted to be summoned the same days as him." The dog barked happily signalling his agreement.

"Would you like a nickname?" Another bark was his response. After a minute or so she still had not come up with anything.

"How about Pedro?" Natsu suggested. The dog barked once more.

"Alright then Pedro, I'll see you later." Lucy dismissed him and turned to Natsu.

"Let's get to the station and go home; I am exhausted." The boy paled at the thought of getting on the transportation. Lucy rolled her eyes and began pulling on his arm.

"Come on, Natsu!"

* * *

**Aaand done! This chapter is pretty long because of the fighting scene and stuff.**

**You have your antagonist and a possible ally/enemy in the mix and this is not the last you will be seeing of them.**

**Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! You are all so kind to me.**

**What do you think of the OCs though?**

**Leave your comments in the reviews!**

**Until next time,**

**A.**


	5. Chapter 5 Friendships that come in 3s

**I do not own Fairy Tail. All of its awesomeness belongs to Hiro Mashima.**

* * *

Luna stumbled into a dark cave breathing heavily. Leaning on one of the walls, she cursed aloud.

Why did she chicken out like that? That girl was hardly anything to deal with so why was she beaten so badly?

The way she stood above her had triggered a reaction that was all too familiar to her.

Did _that_ memory affect her that much even after all this time?

If only she could use her magic…

The dark energy squeezed at her heart suddenly, begging to be released, causing her to gasp and cough up a black gooey substance.

Her blood.

When she regained her breath she tentatively placed her fingers on her eye-patch but flinched when a shock ran through her body.

'Right,' she reminded herself, 'that's why I can't use my magic.'

When she thought of the person who put the eye-patch on her in the first place, she could not stop the growl that ripped from her throat.

The one she loves the most; her sweet, kind and loving sister was the one that sealed her magic and put it in place that she could not take off the seal without harming herself.

And for what?

She chuckled humorlessly; she knew the reason, but she liked to believe it was something else.

But she knew the truth and knew it well; she was dangerous.

No matter how many good deeds she did or people she saved she would forever be dangerous.

Not even her own sister trusted her completely, not after-

*THUMP*

The energy pulsed once, forcing more blood out of her mouth.

*THUMP*

She clutched the fabric covering her chest tightly, willing the pain to stop. She could feel her magic boiling underneath her skin, trying to escape but the seal pushed it back down.

*THUMP*

Tears sprang into her eye and rolled down her cheek as the pain escalated even further.

Every year something like this would happen and she and her sister would have a duel so she was able to use all of the excess magic that had built up. That was the only time her eye-patch was allowed to be taken off.

At least, that was what she had been told.

But she would never remember what happened during the time and Alexa wouldn't tell her so she was always left in the dark.

*THUMP*

"Stop," Luna croaked, attempting to grab at the eye-patch. Clawing at it desperately, she caused little fingernail marks to appear on her skin but she didn't notice them over the pain of the shocks she got each time she touched the eye-patch.

*THUMP*

"Stop it!" she cried out, gaining hold of the white fabric, the shocks rippling up her arm and through her body making her cry out once more but she refused to let go.

With a final yell, she ripped it off, breaking the seal and exposing the black lifeless eye underneath.

The shocks and pulsing stopped immediately and she panted harshly, kneeling with her hands on the floor.

A smirk made its way onto her face although her arm was charred and she stood up, dusting off any dirt. Heading outside her smirk widened into a maniacal grin as she remembered yesterday's battle and the person she fought.

She would _not_ make the same mistakes twice when dealing with her. She would make sure she suffered before her ultimate demise by her hands.

And only one person will be responsible.

"Just you wait, Alexa. When this world crumbles and everyone dies it shall be on your head." Swiping her hand down, she opened a portal and stepped through. The portal closed and she was gone.

From behind a set of trees Dawn sighed.

This was what she was afraid of. She knew how Luna got when she had one of her freak outs and there was only one person that could stop her because no one else knows how. She touched the top of her chest near her neck and cringed involuntarily at the memory of the scar hidden beneath her hoodie.

"This is getting way too out of hand," she mumbled, conjuring a little snowflake into her hands, "Where are you Alexa? Stop wasting time." she whispered to it, watching it as it disappeared. Hopefully Alexa got her message and stopped slacking off.

* * *

Lucy shifted on her extremely comfortable, brand new bed. Yesterday she had managed to pay her first month's rent and buy a few clothes for herself. The apartment itself was a bit small, but had a homey feeling similar to the guild that her previous house didn't have.

She had to go on another mission for grocery money today though.

She slid closer to the warm wall but stopped when it pulled her to it. Tensing, she tried to wiggle her hands but they were stuck between her body and the not-wall. Flattening out her palms, she traced them along the not-wall, as well as she could, feeling the ridges on it.

It was then she remembered her bed was next to a window.

Snapping her eyes open, she was greeted by the tan, muscular chest that could only belong to Natsu Dragneel. The 'wall' that her palms were resting on was actually his abs and the arm slung over her waist kept her tightly against him. A blue ball of fur rested on the pillow above her head that she was previously occupying and the two intruders snored like they _hadn't_ broken into her apartment.

Heat rushed to her face as she tried to wriggle out of his hold only for Natsu to unconsciously tighten his grip.

"Natsu," she squeaked, her voice a few octaves high, "wake up." He groaned but other than that did not respond.

After trying, and failing, after several attempts to wake the boy an idea came to her, making her grin mischievously.

Maneuvering swiftly but quietly so he didn't wake up she squeezed her hands from their prison and placed them over his nose and mouth, waiting for a reaction.

As expected, Natsu squirmed around before bolting up on the bed, heaving in greedy gulps of air. The sight caused Lucy to burst out laughing, holding her stomach and rocking from side-to-side until she rocked backwards and almost plummeted off the bed.

But before she fell, Natsu lunged forward and caught her by the waist, pulling her to his chest.

"Thanks, Natsu." She blushed at their close proximity but it immediately died at his next words,

"No problem, weirdo."

"I am not a weirdo!" She smacked him on the head and hopped off the bed when he held it in pain but was laughing at her. With a huff, she gathered her bathing materials, some fresh clothes and stalked off to the bathroom, leaving a cackling Natsu and a still sleeping Happy behind.

Twenty minutes later, Lucy emerged from the bathroom. She was wearing a red tank top and a black skirt. Hooking her belt with her keys and whip to it, she tied part of her hair into a side ponytail with a red ribbon.

Realizing that the two troublemakers weren't in her bedroom, her next guess was her kitchen so she went there…

To be hit with a half bag of flour in the face.

"Natsu!" she shrieked, wiping some from her face as he and Happy laughed and high-fived. Glancing at a plastic jug full of water on the counter next to her, her eyes twinkled. Picking it up, she threw the contents _and_ the jug at him, Happy just avoiding it, but Natsu was not so lucky.

Pushing his wet bangs from his eyes he scowled at his backfired plan and the lump forming on his head from where the jug hit him. Taking a menacing step forward, he grinned in triumph when she took a step back. A wicked gleam was in his eyes as he pounced toward her and she moved quickly, resulting in a cat and mouse game between the two.

Lucy ran into her bedroom by her table but Natsu blocked her exit, the two still as Lucy tried to find an escape route. Feinting left, Natsu moved as well and she ducked under the table swiftly but not fast enough.

Pulling her by her legs Natsu yanked her from under the table and flipped her over on her back, straddling her hips.

Lucy swallowed thickly at their new position. If it was any other time she would've brushed off the implications or punched the person in the face but she knew the look he had in his eyes, it was the same look Vulpi or Orion had whenever they did this to her.

"N-natsu?" she stuttered as he placed his hands just underneath her shirt. Seeing he wasn't going to listen to her she turned her head to the side and screwed her eyes shut.

"If you're gonna do this, make it quick."

He didn't reply but began to move his fingers ever so slowly up to her ribs….

And tickled her.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH-!" she squirmed under his relentless torture as he moved his fingers up and down her sides.

"NATS-HAHAH! NATSU STOP!"

"Say that I'm the best at pranks and you can never beat me." He finally paused in his assault after a few minutes to allow her to catch her breath. Finally regaining her breath, she sent a half-smile at him.

"I'm the best at pranks and you can never beat me." His face morphed into a shocked expression but was replaced by a grin that showed his pointy canines.

"Oh Luce," he shook his head in mock disappointment, settling his hands back on her torso, "you're definitely going to regret this."

"Wait no do-AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

* * *

Forty minutes later, the three had finally made it to the guild without incident. (After about two minutes into extreme tickling Lucy realized her hands were free and managed to punch him in the face and take another shower. She also got a surprise when she saw Natsu set himself on fire to evaporate the water off him. Happy calmed her by telling her that he was the Fire Dragon Slayer.) Kicking open the doors, Natsu shouted a 'We're back,' earning many responses in turn before starting a brawl with Gray about his nakedness.

Skipping to the bar with Happy, dodging flying stools in the process, a flash of orange made her whip her head around and she locked eyes with the owner of orange hair…that seemed very familiar to her.

"What are you doing here?!" the two shouted at the same time, Loke unconsciously backing away. Lucy didn't even get to comment as he glanced down at her right hand, spotted her guild mark and bolted for the door, not even bothering to say goodbye to anyone.

"What is his problem? First he starts flirting with me out of nowhere yesterday then runs away as soon as he finds out I'm a Celestial Mage." She questioned her blue-haired friend, sitting on the bar stool next to Levy's.

"That's to be expected actually. He has a problem with Celestial Mages but no one knows why." Putting the information to the back of her mind for now, she ordered breakfast from Mira who was standing nearby.

"Lucyyyy-chaaan!" Lisanna sang, engulfing said girl in a hug before sitting on the stool next to her.

"Did you go on a job yesterday?"

"Yeah, with Natsu." Lisanna gasped.

"With him of all people? Did he destroy anything?"

"No, he was on his best behavior the entire time. We got the full reward and everything." At this, Levy and Lisanna almost slid out of their seats and Mira, who was coming back, stumbled slightly. She placed Lucy's plate in front of her and she immediately began wolfing down her French toast.

"I actually have to go on another mission today," she mentioned absently after swallowing, "wanna come with me?" Lisanna nodded rapidly and Levy hopped off the bar stool.

"Well, I better get going then. Have fun on your mission guys," The two grabbed both her hands, spinning her back around.

"Where do you think you're going Levy-chan?" Lucy smiled gently.

"Yeah, you're coming with us." Lisanna finished, bouncing up and down excitedly, making Levy giggle.

"Okay, fine. Let's choose a mission."

The three stood at the mission board, searching it for any suitable requests. Soon, Levy picked off a request and read the details to them.

"Escort some goods from the merchant guild Love and Lucky to Hargeon's port. The reward is 180,000 jewels." Levy read.

"I'll give this to Mira-nee and we can go." Lisanna offered and skipped away to give Mira the request.

"What about Jet and Droy, Levy-chan? Won't they be worried if you're gone?"

"Nah, they both went to get me a secret present for the anniversary of us teaming up." Lucy chuckled silently at the boys' devotion for her small friend. They really would do anything for her.

"Oi," Lisanna called from the front of the hall by the door, "let's go. Acalypha town is kinda far from Magnolia."

Just as the three were about leave, Natsu stopped them.

"Where are you guys going?"

"We're going on a mission." Lucy answered.

"Cool! Let me come."

"No," Lisanna responded immediately, "you'll just destroy everything and I want to get to know Lucy-chan some more and knowing you, you'll hog her the entire time." Natsu seemed like he was about to whine so Lucy interjected,

"How about when I get home, I'll cook you my favorite meal that I used to make in the forest."

"Alright! Have fun Luce!" He pushed them to the door and shut it behind them.

"That was rude." Lucy face-palmed, Lisanna rolled her eyes and Levy let out an amused yet defeated sigh and the three set off on their journey.

* * *

Half a day later, they made it to the Love and Lucky merchant guild. The name struck a familiar tone with Lucy but she brushed it off to focus on the mission at hand.

"Layla?" a woman about thirty-five called out, making Lucy spin around so quickly she almost gave herself whiplash. When the woman realized that the person was different she apologized.

"I'm so sorry. You look like someone I knew who was in the guild once, but you're much too young."

"You mean my mother? I'm Lucy, Layla's daughter." The woman covered her mouth with her hand.

"Lucy?" she breathed, "I haven't seen you since the funeral. You're all grown up now." Lucy flushed a bit and purposely ignored her friends' curious gazes when the woman mentioned the funeral.

"Thank you but my friends and I have to get ready to go. We are doing the escort mission."

"Of course, of course. I'll get the wagon packed for you." She scurried off to get the wagon.

Lucy hurried behind her to avoid questioning from her friends. Lisanna and Levy shared a look; they wouldn't push it now, but they would get answers from Lucy.

The members of the guild filled up the wagon they would be escorting and they set off. The reward would be given to them when the merchandise was delivered. The wagon was pulled by a horse steered by a member of the merchant guild.

Nightfall soon fell and they set up camp for the night. The girls sat in relative silence, save for the crackling of the fire in front of them.

"Sooo," Lisanna drawled, breaking the silence, "how did that lady know you?"

"She doesn't know me exactly, she knew my mother."

"Knew? Why past tense?" Levy quizzed. Lucy sighed at her keen skills.

"It's past tense because…my mother's dead. She died about five years ago" Levy gasped.

"I am so sorry Lu-"

"I don't need your pity." Lucy snapped coldly, making them both flinch. Seeing them flinch, her eyes softened.

"Sorry Levy-chan. I don't do pity well, especially after receiving so much and it not meaning anything. Mama isn't going to come back if you say sorry and I've accepted her death a long time ago so don't worry about it." Levy looked a bit skeptical but she nodded anyway.

"What about your father?" Lucy cast her eyes downwards.

"He…died two years after mama passed." The two wisely didn't say anything this time and quiet settled between them until Lucy spoke again.

"It's getting late, how about you go to sleep. I'll take first watch." Lisanna and Levy wordlessly agreed and snuggled into their sleeping bags leaving Lucy to herself.

A few minutes passed with Lucy staring blankly into the slowly dying flames. Taking a key from her belt she chanted softly,

"Open, Gate of the Hunter, Orion!"

Appearing in front of her, the Spirit sat down, patting her head.

"How are you doing squirt?"

"Don't call me that." She scowled absently brushing his hand off her head.

"You finally joined a guild I see."

"Yeah…"

"What's wrong?" he finally asked, watching as her shoulders slumped down a bit more.

"I snapped at Levy-chan, the blue-haired one, when she offered her condolences for mama."

"How did she find out?"

"We went to the merchant guild that hired us, Love and Lucky and someone mistook me for my mother. They talked about the funeral."

"And what's the problem?"

"I feel bad. Levy-chan didn't deserve me doing that to her and now she probably doesn't even want to be friends with me anymore. Oh gosh, what if she hates me now and I have to leave the guild. Especially now that I know what friendship feels like…?"

"You need to relax squirt," Orion chided playfully, chuckling at his young Master. Seeing that she stopped freaking out, he continued a bit more seriously this time,

"You're probably the only one who feels that way about it. Trust me, if you talk to them tomorrow, they'll act like nothing happened and you will get to keep your friends." Thinking about it for a second she smiled at his advice.

"Thanks, Orion. You're right."

"Of course I am. And what's this about first friendships? Do we Celestial Spirits mean nothing to you?" He placed a hand over his heart in mock sadness.

"I said friendships because that's what they are for now. You guys are my family and nothing will ever change that." He pulled her into a side hug.

"We love you too squirt. Get some rest; I'll keep watch for you." Lucy yawned in reply not even bothering to fight and rubbed her eyes sleepily, crawling into her sleeping bag and in a few minutes, she was out like a light.

Orion smiled tenderly and leaned over to kiss his young Master's forehead. He really did mean it; her Spirits did love her and would do anything for her, just like she would do anything for them.

"We'll always protect you squirt, no matter what." He spoke in a hushed tone, settling down until the next shift was ready.

* * *

_One and a half days later_

"We're here!" Lisanna exclaimed as they walked to Hargeon's port, plopping down on a nearby bench, Lucy doing the same. Levy rolled her eyes.

"I'm going to collect our reward you lazy bums, don't wander off too far." She skipped away where to the wagon had gotten ahead leaving them there.

"I think I saw magic store here. Wanna check it out?" Lucy offered.

"Sure!" After searching for a while, they came across the magic store 'Proper Grocer'. Stepping inside, Lucy immediately went up to the sales clerk.

"Do you have any keys?" She inquired from the old man behind the cashier desk.

"Yes, yes. I have the compass, the swan and the little dog."

"Little Dog! How much is it?" By now, Lisanna had finished browsing a peered at Lucy curiously.

"Twenty thousand jewels."

"What?!" Lucy slammed her hands on the wood of the desk hard, some pieces chipping off. The man jumped but otherwise continued.

"I said twenty thousand jewels." Lucy grabbed the man by his shirt and pulled him so they were eye-to-eye.

"Listen here," she began darkly eyes narrowed making him sweat bullets, "No key like that is worth that much so you better lower your price to a considerable amount. NOW."

.

.

.

"Wow Lucy-chan, you are really good at haggling." Lisanna praised while she and Lucy walked back to their previous spot, the latter twirling a new silver key between her fingers.

"Thanks Lisanna-chan." It was true though; after Lucy had outright threatened the poor man, he had immediately dropped the price to ten thousand jewels.

"But to tell you the truth, his price was actually correct. One of those keys usually cost around 20,000 jewels but I didn't want to pay that much."

"Ahh."

Arriving at their destination, Levy was already waiting for them with three sacks.

"Finally, where did you go?" She handed them their rewards that were divided evenly.

"To get this," she held up her key and Levy grinned, "you'll get to see me make a contract with my newest Spirit."

"Awesome, I've always wanted to see a contract."

"Will it be boring?" Lisanna asked as Lucy got into her stance.

"I don't think so," Lucy replied holding the key out, "I am linked to the path of the world of Celestial Spirits, now! O spirit, answer my call and pass through the gate! Open! Gate of the Lesser Dog, Canis Minor!"

A poof of smoke and a bell toll later, a white snowman creature stood in front of Lucy, shaking. He had small black eyes and an orange nose and looked similar to its greater counterpart.

"What is it?" Lisanna glanced to Levy for an answer.

"I have no clue. It could be a dog….maybe."

"Puu-puun." He greeted.

"Hello there. My name is Lucy and I hope we can be friends." She crouched to his level and held her hand out to shake. The Spirit shook it and she began the contract.

"So, when do you want to be summoned, the same days as Orion and Pedro?" He shook his head and held up two fingers before crossing his hands in an X. Levy and Lisanna stared on absolutely confused while Lucy beamed in understanding.

"Okay so not on Mondays then." The two girls' jaws' dropped when the Spirit nodded his head.

"Would you like a nickname?"

"Puu-puun."

"Umm…..how about Plue?"

"Pun-pun"

"Alright then Plue, I'll see you later." The dog Spirit waved and disappeared in sparkles. Turning back to her friends, she raised an eyebrow at their speechlessness.

"That was really cool." They complimented at the same time.

"Particularly how you could interpret all of what he was saying." Levy continued, not noticing how Lucy turned red from the flattery.

"I thought that it would have been boring but that was actually nice."

"Geez you guys, stop it. You're embarrassing me." Spinning around she strode from them quickly which turned into a sprint when they chased after her.

"Aww, Lu-chan is blushing." Levy tutted as she ran next to Lisanna after the blonde.

"Yeah, and it's ridiculously cute."

"SHUT UP!"

*Bam* "I," *Bam* "am not," *Bam Bam* "wasting time!" a red-orange hair girl ground out, delivering a particularly hard punch to the punching bag in front of her, tearing a hole through it. Letting out a long breath Alexa pulled out her fist and unhooked the bag, dragging it over to where a pile of 5 more lay in a similar state. Fetching a new one she hooked it on but did not start immediately.

Instead she ruffled a hand through her bangs and groaned.

She had felt it when Luna had released the seal; it was connected directly to her after all.

She knew the date for the seal releasing was coming up but she did not realize it was so soon and without help she knew Dawn wouldn't be able to suppress her and force her into submission, only she knew how.

Only she knew because only she knows how the final battle went and only she knows her sacrifice.

Shaking away her depressing thoughts, she pulled her ribbon holding her ponytail together loose, massaging her scalp to prevent a headache from forming.

Whirling around, she began her journey to the ruler of her temporary home.

It seemed she would be taking her week earlier than she expected.

* * *

**Aaand done! I am so so so sorry I'm late. I caught something that was going around at my school the day before the last day and haven't gotten completely better yet.**

**But I'm alive and moderately better and have not given up on life as yet so BANZAI! *Throws confetti***

**I'm answering reviews today so here we go:**

**LavenderMoonRose and LittleMissTrickster: There you go! I managed to bring in little Plue earlier than expected but he's here and I actually missed him so it's a win-win for everyone.**

**Footster: Don't worry; I won't be keeping you in the dark about these characters for long….maybe… But their stories are planned already so all I have to do is place them where they need to be.**

**Digi-fanCatt: As always thank you for the compliments. You really do spoil me with all your praise.**

**Polip Wspanialy: I'm glad Lucy and the OCs are to your liking so far and I hope I don't mess it up in the future. As for Luna, hopefully this chapter gives you some insight on her character.**

** Noonespecial: I hope I don't confuse you in the future then and I'm glad you like that scene; I don't usually like writing battles 'cause I think I'm not good but I'm glad you like it.**

**Kelidestroyer: Thank you and I can't wait to give you more.**

**Guest: Merci. I see a review for you every chapter and I can't believe it took me so long to answer you back. I'm sorry.**

**Before I ask my question –MANGA SPOILERS—Do you see Gray? People are complaining about how he left Juvia and how evil he is but you know what is the first thing that came to mind when I saw him all evil? It was 'Dayum boy, how did you get so good looking by being evil?' and I texted my BFF and she responded the same thing… but that does not mean I condone his stupid behavior. Do I have to punch him? But Natsu comes in like Naruto and Gray is in Sasuke mode and the two will duke it out for the prize of being the biggest a** ever… Basically everyone is being a douche.**

**This fandom has corrupted me. I was reading a werewolf fanfic on another site called Wattpad and this lady came in after abandoning her child an hour after he was born when he was five, wanting the man and the son back. The male had found his mate already when the boy was 2 months and they were raising him and it was really cute until she came in and people were cursing her and reading their weapons and I was like: 'I wonder what would happen if I brought the Fairy Tail fandom for her….Fairy Law. And the Etherion Cannon. And the Jupiter Cannon.**

**What a lovely way to die, isn't it?**

**All corruption aside, its question time:**

**Where do you think Alexa is?**

**I've been dropping hints but I wonder of you know so leave your answer in the reviews.**

**Until next time,**

**Love,**

**A.**


	6. Chapter 6 Friendship, Family, Promises

**I do not own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

"Lucy, wake up. Natsu's missing."

"Wha?" Lucy groggily replied to the raven-haired blob looming over her.

The night that she and the girls had gotten back from their mission, Natsu had practically tackled her at the front door and forced her to cook dinner for him. She had made rabbit stew and rice and had to refill his plate 3 times before she decided to cut him off. He had then rubbed his belly, pulled off his shirt and fell into her bed, fast asleep. Luckily she didn't mind him sleeping in her bed (that much) as he was rather warm and fun to cuddle with. Happy had slept in between them and the three rested comfortably.

The next few days after that were spent goofing off and she had planned to spend today the same way as well.

What would Capricorn say if he could see her?

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes the blob focused into the half-naked figure of Gray Fullbuster.

"What are you talking about Gray?" she stated, still half-asleep, "Natsu fell asleep next to me last night right he-oh." She trailed off as her hand hit the empty space where the salmon haired male was before.

Suddenly more alert she jumped out of bed, nearly head-butting Gray in the process. Going over to her dresser, she picked out some clothes.

"Stay there," she told him, "I'll be back soon. Then we can talk about this when I finish shower."

Bathing faster than normal she stepped out wearing a long sleeved blue shirt with the sleeves rolled to her elbows, shorts and some boots. She tied her hair into her typical half ponytail with a blue ribbon and hooked her belt to her shorts.

'Oh yeah, I have to get a new whip soon.' She reminded herself while adjusting her belt to fit without the whip.

"What's this about Natsu being missing?" she asked Gray as they traveled to the guild. Gray, who had lost his pants along the way, responded,

"We can't find him or Happy. They are not at his house and we don't have a trace of him. We think he might have gone looking for Igneel."

"Who?"

"Igneel is Natsu's father. Well, adoptive father, he's a dragon."

"A dragon?"

"Yeah, I'm surprised he hasn't told you yet. Natsu was raised and taught his dragon slayer abilities by Igneel the Fire Dragon but on July 7th X777, he disappeared. He was searching for him for a while before joining Fairy Tail but he hasn't given up yet. Every rumor of a dragon sighting he jumps at the chance to find him and every time he comes back empty handed, he gets pretty sad. But for him to leave without telling anyone, he must have really thought it was him."

'Year X777 is the same year as when mama died,' she remembered idly before placing the information into the back of her mind.

"You really care about him, don't you?" She giggled when he looked away from her to hide the blush that emerged on his face suddenly.

"No, but if he was not here, who would I fight with?"

"If you say so. How did you get in my house anyway?"

"Oh, through your chimney; it's really spacious and easy to get through."

"Couldn't you have just knocked like a normal person?"

"Would you have heard me?"

"…Good point."

The two shared a laugh when they passed two boys who were talking.

"You heard about the dragon sighting rumor from some old woman at the end of the market?" The first one asked, gaining Lucy and Gray's attention.

"Yea, she said it was at right? Going up there would be pretty dangerous though, the blizzards up there are even worse than usual."

"I know right. Only an idiot would go up there looking for something that probably does not even exist." Lucy and Gray sweat dropped at the comment.

"Natsu really is an idiot." Lucy shook her head.

"It's not surprising. Anyway we have to get back to the guild and tell Master." Lucy nodded and the two took off to the guild.

.

.

.

"Hmm, if that's the case, you will have to go after him." Makarov said as Lucy finished telling him about the situation.

"We want to, but we won"t be able to look for him, let alone find him among all that snow." Gray answered, fingers itching down to his boxers when Lucy swatted them away.

"The snow would be a problem…" He scratched his chin for a few seconds before snapping his fingers.

"Aha! Ask Laxus to go with you. He just got back from his mission with the Raijinshuu so he should be available to go." Gray groaned in irritation at the mentioned name.

"What's wrong with him? Don't you like him?" She asked, partially puzzled at his reaction.

"Laxus is the Gramps' grandson and a total douchebag. He's also one of the S-class mages in the guild. Besides he will probably say no." He directed his last statement to Master.

"If he says no, tell him that it is a direct order from me."

"Fine then Gramps, I'll go tell him." Gray reluctantly agreed, walking out of the office.

"I hope you can find that brat before he gets in trouble." Gramps commented as Lucy stood in the doorway.

"Don't worry about it Gramps; we'll definitely find him, whether Laxus helps or not."

Heading to the second floor landing, she heard a deep voice echoing through the second floor.

"Why on Earthland would I help you look for Natsu?" She heard him say as she came closer.

'That must be Laxus,' she guessed as the person finally came into view.

He was extremely tall, much taller than Gray, with a very muscular build and blond hair spiking backwards. He also seemed a bit older. A scar shaped like a bolt of lightning cut through his right eye and a pair of magic headphones rested comfortably on his ears and his mouth was set in a scowl at Gray who returned the gesture with full force.

"It's not like I wanted to ask you lightning face but Gramps told me to."

"How dare you call Laxus-sama 'lightning face' you unrefined pig," a young man, a bit younger than Laxus with long waist length green hair said. His bangs were parted to the right side covering most of his face.

"No one asked you Freed." Gray spat at him, Freed inching toward his sword.

"Okay everyone," Lucy but in before things could get ugly, "let's not fight." She turned to Laxus, "Hi, I'm Lucy and I'm a new member of Fairy Tail." She held out her hand to shake but a young woman with light brown hair slapped it away.

"Do you think you are worthy of touching Laxus-sama?" she asked in a snarky tone, her nose turned up as she glowered at Lucy in a haughty manner. Lucy, seemingly ignoring her attitude, replied in a less than happy tone.

"I couldn't care less about your infatuation with that guy there and I really don't care about whom he is Natsu and I honestly do not want to put up with you people if that is what it takes to get him to help. My first priority is saving Natsu and if he chooses not to help, fine by me. Gray, we're leaving." Turning on her heel from the shocked faces of Freed and Evergreen, she walked down the stairs with Gray but was held back when someone gripped her arm lightly.

"You're pretty interesting blondie. I'll go with you to fetch the kid." Striding out the guild doors, he gave a lazy wave to the Raijinshuu.

"You're blond too you know!" Lucy yelled after him, pulling a semi-shocked Gray along.

"So where are we heading blondie?" Laxus asked as the three walked through the market.

"You came and you don't even know? What a troublesome person…" she muttered the last part under her breath, unaware that Laxus still heard it but decided not to comment.

"We are looking for the person who knows about the rumor. The boys we passed today were talking about some old lady at the end of the market who was talking about the dragon sighting so we were going to- eek!" She shrieked as cold, gray, boney fingers clamped down on her wrist.

She followed the fingers up to a shriveled up forearm where the rest of the body disappeared behind a small purple tent. The hand suddenly yanked her forward with surprising strength, making her stumble closer to it.

"You want to know about the dragon, do you not?" A voice inquired causing Gray and Lucy to wince at the raspy tone it took on.

Laxus however, remained impassive.

"Yeah," Gray answered once the fingers let go of Lucy's wrist, "what do to you know about it?"

"There _is_ a dragon up in ; I have seen it with my very eyes!" The figure leaned forward to reveal her pale, sunken face and gray eyes that were widened, her pupils dilated. She looked like she was crazy and it made Lucy and Gray smile nervously and even Laxus raised an eyebrow in question of her sanity.

"Do you know specifically where you saw it old hag?" Laxus asked, already tired of her. She chose to ignore his rudeness but Lucy picked up on the faint twitch of her barely there eyebrow.

"Hmm, I do believe it was near the bottom of the mountain but not too close there. The area is dangerous though, especially with the blizzards recently. Do you think you can handle it?"

"Of course," Lucy replied immediately, "our friend is up there and there is no way we would leave him alone. Thanks for the information though. Bye!"

Waving to the old lady she grabbed the boys' hands and took off to .

Inside the tent, Alexa smiled gratefully.

"Thank you for doing this Dawn-chan." She said softly as the 'old woman' was surrounded by light snow and transformed back into the blue haired teenager.

"No problem, you know you can ask me to do anything for you. But was sending them up there the right thing to do? We could've always gotten the boy ourselves." Alexa pushed up her bangs before letting them flop back to her forehead.

"It's the only thing we could do for now. I can't be out here to protect them as much as I'd like and if they're not prepared to face Luna now then they definitely won't be able to face her at full power. Besides if we force Lucy-chan to level up in power then she'll be able to open my gate faster and I'll finally be able to move freely between the Celestial Spirit World and this one. Besides their kinda carefree and reckless attitudes are nice; it has been such a long time since I last saw an innocent soul without darkness and sorrow." Her eyes became unfocused as she recalled the details of her past.

The not nice parts anyway.

"That's true, even if some of them were very rude," Suddenly Dawn remembered something important. "Why are you still calling people that don't know you –chan? I've told you that it's creepy!" Dawn punched Alexa on top of her head and she cried out.

"Owie, I'm sorry but I couldn't help it." She pouted, not acting like the young adult she is.

"Geez, what would Shou say if he saw you?" Alexa visibly saddened at the name, her eyes darkening to a deep blue and Dawn tensed, wracking her brain for something to change the subject until her eyes landed on three ruby bracelets on Alexa's right wrist.

"What are those? A present?" Alexa's eyes turned back to their light blue color as she eyed the bracelets.

"Ah no, the Mustache guy I was telling you about told me that if I were to go out in this world without something holding my power back that it would turn to ashes so he gave me some limiters. I told him I would be fine with my pendant but he still gave them to me anyway. He tried to put a fourth one on me but my power rebelled and it broke so we settled on three." She held up a red dragon pendent attached to a leather chain around her neck; the dragon stood on a silver stone, its tail wrapped around it tightly as it stood tall, wings straight and its ruby eyes fierce with an untold message.

The message permanently engraved in her heart.

"No wonder your magical presence is so weak. I thought you were finally dying." Dawn smirked at Alexa's dumbfounded expression, mentally patting herself on the back for successfully changing the subject.

"That's so mean-" she retorted but stopped half way when a cold chill made its way through her body making her lose her footing for a second.

Dawn, having noticed her actions, put a hand on her shoulder to steady her.

"Is it time?"

"Yeah, Luna is using her magic but they should not have gotten there yet. She probably found the Dragneel boy. We have to hurry."

"_I_ have to hurry. _You_ have to do nothing but watch. We are heading to a _snowy_ area, the worse place for you to be." Dawn said in a tone that had no room for argument.

"_Fine_, I won't get into the fight for now, but if things get bad you I will intervene and _must not_ stop me. Understood?"

Dawn nodded and the two were surrounded by snow before vanishing, the tent disappearing with them.

* * *

"Why is it so calm up here now? And _where the hell is Gray?!_" Lucy shouted out to the sky above. The clouds above them were thick and a bit gray but only one or two snowflakes fell from the sky.

Laxus just shrugged and placed his large hand on the top of her head, resting it there. That was a habit he picked up on the past half hour they were searching for Gray.

At first the weather there was as the old lady said; terrible. The snow pelted down fiercely on their heads and the winds were whipping all around them and poor Lucy almost fell over more than five times. They were there for about twenty minutes when an incredibly strong gust of wind had forced her to close her eyes one time and when she opened them next, Gray was missing, leaving her and Laxus to look for him.

Well more her than anything; Laxus did nothing but walk behind her and attempt to snap her neck by placing his heavy hand on her head all the time.

The weather abruptly halted with his disappearance and did not pick up since, leaving her confused for the most part but thankful nonetheless.

"_Gray! Where are you?!" _She called again, cupping her hands to her mouth.

"He probably won't hear you blondie. We just have to keep walking and hope he shows up. Besides, it doesn't matter to me, if he's strong enough he'll live though I highly doubt it."

"I wonder Laxus, why are you such a douchebag? I mean Gray said it and I wanted to hopefully get to know you better but you really are acting like a total prick." Laxus paused and Lucy took the chance to remove his hand and stand in front of him.

"That is none of your business blondie."

"Really? Then let me guess. Do you have a dark secret that no one can know? Or is a threat looming over your head to hurt Fairy Tail that causes you to act mean to others so that they won't have someone to attack?"

"Shut _up blondie_." Laxus warned through gritted teeth.

Lucy, however, did not register the threat.

"Maybe you have some messed up family issues that cause you to act like-whoa!" She ducked and rolled under the fist that was struck out in the space that her face was in before. Getting up she shifted into a lazy fighting stance, the corner of her lips twitching up at the lightning that jumped off his skin.

"It seems that I hit a nerve. So that was it? Family issues?" She dropped the stance and frowned, "That seems to be the problem with this entire generation so I'm not surprised. So , tell me or don't, what did the family do to mess you up?"

Laxus was silently glaring at her as she patiently waited for his response.

After a while he didn't answer so Lucy pulled out her trump card; the puppy dog eyes combined with pouty lips.

He lasted thirty seconds.

Sighing, he shrugged his jacket off, placed it on the snow and sat down on it, leaving a space small enough for Lucy to sit also.

"Whatever I tell you does not leave here and _no one else_ is to know." Lucy nodded her consent and he began.

"My mom wasn't a big part in my life and the only family I knew of was Gramps and my dad, Ivan. Ivan wasn't necessarily the best person and when I was younger he implanted a dragon lacrima in me, turning me into the Lightning Dragon Slayer." Lucy said nothing at this so he continued, "Growing up I always felt like I was under the shadow of my grandfather, people never seeing me as Laxus but as Makarov's grandson so I was constantly working to be the strongest and it eventually landed me a spot as S-class.

Ivan was kicked out of the guild for being a danger to the other guild members and I was so upset. I mean, he was family and you do not do that to family but Gramps wouldn't budge on his decision so I just became…resentful because of that. I ended up picking on people who I thought were beneath me and never lending a hand unless it benefitted me. Hell, I have no clue why I even came out here with you to look for Natsu in the first place but when you told off Evergreen, I was kinda impressed.

To tell the truth I care about Fairy Tail a lot and it hurts when people insult their reputation and I feel like if Gramps is the reason for that; accepting people without a background check or anything and it's hurting our reputation."

Lucy, who remained silent throughout, finally spoke,

"Well to start, your father did deserve that and as you said family doesn't put other family members in danger on purpose and that's what he did. Gramps was only acting on what he thought was right; he could've done something to you after he moved from tormenting them, I mean he put that lacrima in you! Imagine what else he could have done if he was left in the guild.

But I see where you're coming from in terms of being in someone's shadow. I look like an exact copy of my mom and she was one of the best Celestial Mages in her time before she retired. Not to mention she was one of the most graceful ladies you could ever meet. And well because of that it always felt as if someone was staring me down, wanting me to act exactly like her and eventually _become _her, even if they didn't say it outright. It was all tormenting and it only increased as she died. That actually added to the reason why I…"

"Why you what?"

"Nevermind, the point is that while your actions are justifiable, you can't take it out on your grandfather and your guild mates by acting like a dirtbag."

"I've been acting that way for a while blondie; it's going to be hard for me to change."

"Then you'll need someone to keep you in line like it was their job. You need a little sister." Laxus blinked and Lucy beamed.

"A little sister?" He waited for her to say it was a joke but it never came.

"Yup, a little sister and that will be me."

"You're kidding right?"

"Nope. Whenever you do something that I find wrong, I'll reprimand you like every good little sister does, right Laxus-nii?" She tilted her head to the side and grinned cheekily and Laxus rolled his eyes but let a small smile appear on his face.

"Fine then, little sister."

*BOOM*

An explosion rang in the area nearby followed by a cry of pain, making them turn in the direction of it.

"Natsu," Lucy breathed out before sprinting off.

She did not get far as her feet were taken off the ground suddenly and she was held under Laxus' arm.

Before she could yell at him, a flash of lightning entered her vision and she was at the battle.

It did not look good.

Natsu was positioned in a low crouch on the ground, multiple bruises scattered across his body. He was breathing heavily and glaring at the opponent. Splotches of blood made the surrounding snow pink and his vest lay torn in the cold surroundings.

Following his line of sight to the enemy she barely stifled a gasped as her eyes locked with the devilish smirk on Luna's face as she stood on a black magic circle in the air.

Unlike Natsu, Luna hardly had a scratch on her and her breathing was evened out and steady. There was something different about her from the last time they met but she didn't know what.

But it was probably had something to do with why Natsu looked like he was ready to collapse.

"Well, well, it seems we meet again. I was hoping to finish off the runt before dumping his dead body at your guild as a message _buuuut _since you're here already I guess I could just kill you both now." Black flames erupted from her fists and she threw them.

Laxus and Lucy jumped in opposite directions easily but Natsu barely scrambled away in time, fatigue seeping out of him every time he moved a little bit. The snow from where the flames collided was completely melted and even the rock looked a bit burnt.

Lucy realized it then; Luna could now use magic.

Without missing a beat Lucy pulled two keys from her pouch.

"Open! Gate of the Golden Bull and Gate of the Hunter, Taurus and Orion!" The two appeared at her sides.

"Orion, shoot her out of the sky. Taurus, stay by my side and wait for my signal." Orion stayed behind and started shooting at her while Lucy and Taurus ran to Luna who was currently distracted by Laxus' lightning attacks.

"This is hardly anything. But it is a better effort than the baby dragon over there." Luna said lazily, effortlessly dodging the multiple attacks sent at her by stepping on different magic circles before a stray ice arrow hit her in the side, halting her movement as she checked the bleeding injury.

Without even checking to see who fired it, Lucy called to Taurus,

"Now!" Taurus swerved in front of her and took his axe from his back and held it on a side, low enough for Lucy to jump up on. Using his strength he launched Lucy into the air by Luna.

Sending some magic to her fist, she cocked back her arm and drove it forward fully expecting it to hit the still distracted Luna.

That's why she was so surprised when Luna caught her fist with no trouble and held onto it tightly and painfully.

With her free hand Luna pulled out the arrow and chucked it away without closing the wound then stared into wide chocolate brown with her own blue and black ones.

Tugging her roughly she kneed her in the stomach, a soft crack forcing the air from her lungs and hurling her back to the ground using a wide column of black flames that engulfed her fully.

"Lucy!" Orion aimed his gun once more but before he could blink, Luna disappeared and reappeared in front of him, ripping the rifle from his grasp and pulling the trigger with a mad grin, the bullet going straight through his stomach and sending him along with the weapon back to the Spirit World.

"Aaahh!"

The scream made Laxus whip his head around in horror to see Lucy still engulfed in flames but the tuft of pink crawling to her made him hesitate. Instead he focused his attention on the girl in front of him and charged, his magic already at his fingertips.

As soon as he got into striking distance and she moved to hit him, he changed into his lightning body and zapped away.

"Come out, come out wherever you are~" she sang and he appeared behind her, not seeing the smirk on her face.

Spinning around she blocked the attack and he zapped away again and the process was repeated.

"I am tired of this!" She shouted as he vanished for the eighth time. Lighting her hands of fire she attacked in random directions whenever the light flickered weirdly.

In her rage she never noticed when the flames around Lucy suddenly died down.

She only noticed it when she saw Natsu leaning on Lucy for support.

Before she could attack them, Laxus materialized in front of her once more but she was ready. She ducked under him, similarly to how Lucy had done earlier and placed her palm flat on his back and released a powerful stream of fire that sent him flying.

Turning back to the two teens, she stalked to them leisurely.

"It seems I was right; you were weak," Lucy grit her teeth to prevent from saying anything but Natsu had no problem openly snarling. Luna, however only smiled wickedly at them.

"Your victory last time was only thanks to my _dear sister_ but this time you owe your death and the destruction of this world to her own selfish-" A sphere of starlight burned through her shoe and she stared at Lucy's slightly charred outstretched hand.

'The _same damn hand _that cost me my victory last time.' She all but sneered in her head.

"I'll be sure to cut off that hand of yours right before you die, Lucy."

"You will _not_ lay a hand on her head." Natsu growled out, standing on unsteady feet in front of Lucy, his hands stretched out on either side of him.

Lucy behind him struggled to stand also but her feet were badly burned from the flames so she could only keep her hands ready just in case Natsu needed help.

"Protecting your girlfriend? How sweet," Luna cooed in a sickly sweet voice, "but that won't save you from the wrath of my flames." She put her hands out in front of her and a stream much larger than what Laxus was hit with flew to them, but Natsu did not waver and tensed in preparation.

The attack never hit.

"Ice-make: Shield!"

"Chion's Defense!"

Two ice shields manifested in front of them, the first one melting away quickly and the second one barely holding out until the attack died out, the shield crumbling right after.

"It took you long enough ice princess."

"Sorry flame brain, Lucy, I got held up by them." He thrust a thump in the direction of a light blue haired girl who was staring at Luna coldly.

"Luna," she regarded as coldly as the magic she used.

"I see that you're here too Dawn." Recognition lit up Lucy and Natsu's features at the name, "Say, where's my sister? You two have always been close so I assume you know where she is. I wanted her to see that she caused the destruction of this world just because she didn't want me anymore."

"That's not true. Due to certain circumstances-"

"Isn't that always the reason? She's never here for me, even when I loved her so much, she _never_ had time for me. Only when that stupid eye-patch came off she was there. To subdue me. And now not even then." By this time, the arrogant, overconfident persona she put on was gone and what was left was an angry teary-eyed girl. A black mist began seeping out of her and only grew with every word she spoke.

"I loved her with everything I had and she never even bothered to give me even a fraction of it back. She was always too busy, _always too busy with you all! I hate you!"_ The mist began overwhelming them and the group started coughing as it entered their lungs.

"_I hate you and I hate her!"_

"If you don't shut the fuck up with your stupid shit right now I'll kick you so far you'll end up back in our world." A new, very furious voice said as all heads turned to see who it was.

"Alexa," Dawn and Luna both said, one in irritation and one in disbelief.

Alexa stood calmly but anyone could see her rigid shoulders and the way her fists clenched and unclenched in an attempt to control herself. Her usually light blue eyes were now a startling crimson and steam rolled off every inch of her. The snow around her was completely melted and a small red flame jumped from her feet every few seconds. The mist dissipated and the two sisters stared at each other.

Alexa finally spoke.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing trying to destroy a world that you don't belong to? Even going as far as to threaten this girl's friends, I'm pissed off. I taught you better, didn't I?" Instead of answering like normal, Luna began laughing. It started as a mad giggle and soon escalated into a horrible cackling sound as she threw her head back and laughed.

"See," she said to no one in particular while laughing, eyes crazed and an impossibly wide grin on her face, "she would rather take a stranger's side than take mine. But don't worry, _Lucy_, I'll take care of you and all your friends but for making my sister hate me more, you all will suffer greatly before your ultimate demise." A portal opened behind her and she fell backwards, her cruel giggles echoing as she left.

The silence left behind was not necessarily tense but awkward as they looked at the newcomers but that was all soon forgotten as Natsu suddenly collapsed, his breathing ragged.

"Natsu!" The group surrounded him as Lucy moved to lift him up but brought back her hands as they got burned quickly.

"He's burning up way too much." She said as Alexa and Dawn moved closer.

"What did he do?" Alexa asked.

"Ummm,the black fire that was around me; he ate it."

"He ate her flames?! Shit, he's such an idiot. Dawn, start healing her burns for me, I need to get that out of his system." She pulled him up into her lap easily as if the heat coming off him was non-existent to her. Angling his head and opening his mouth she looked at Lucy and whispered,

"I don't usually do this other people's boyfriends so I hope you can forgive me." Before Lucy could ask what she meant, she slammed her lips onto Natsu's, halting all thoughts in Lucy's brain.

Even poor Gray was shocked frozen and the only person not stunned was Dawn who sighed in exasperation and continued healing Lucy's burns.

After about forty seconds, Alexa removed her mouth and breathed deeply.

"All done!" She cheered but noticed their expressions and frowned.

"What? I did save him, why are you looking at me like that?"

"N-nothing," Lucy coughed into her freshly healed fist and stood, Gray and Dawn doing the same.

"Thank you, for you know, everything." She smiled and Alexa mimicked it.

"No problem," she replied, heaving Natsu onto her shoulders, "how about I help you get home?"

* * *

As Lucy sat on her bed later that night, she sighed as she reflected on what happened.

She was too confident in her own abilities and that was what almost got Natsu and all her friends killed today.

She gripped her hair as the first tear dropped onto her pajama pants.

She had been terrified as Luna walked to them and she didn't even have the strength to stand and when Natsu had stood to protect her it took all her willpower not to burst into tears.

What would she have done if Dawn and Gray had not shown up and the attack had hit?

She would have to apologize to him, Orion and Taurus soon.

The only reason she was not entirely charred was because Taurus had protected her until he was forced to return to the Spirit World.

Today was a wake-up call to her original promise. It had drifted to the back of her mind as she was so caught up in making new friends but today she was reminded.

She would train her hardest from now on so no one she cared about would get hurt in this battle with Luna.

Wiping her tears as she lied down, an arm immediately circled her waist and she brushed the bangs from his forehead and snuggled closer.

"I'll always protect you Natsu, no matter what." She drifted off to sleep as she spoke, the last word a soft whisper in the night.

Little did she know the same promise was made to her as a red haired girl held onto her dragon pendant as she watched the infinite stars in her temporary home.

* * *

**Aaaand done! Wow this chapter was pretty difficult to write but I'm glad I got it done for you guys.**

**On the happier side of things I'm now fully better so no more sneezing for me, yay!**

**I am actually going to do another time skip soon, I just needed these few chapters to develop different friendships and plot and we'll be onto the main story soon.**

**I'll be re-doing the arcs for Fairy Tail...just with my own twists to them.**

**-Manga Spoilers-**

**Lucy slapped Gray.**

**Levy is in the council.**

**Gray erased his guild mark.**

**Romeo is fricking adorable.**

**I will slap a b**ch very soon if this Avatar crap doesn't end.**

**If NaLu does not get together officially soon, I will have a heart attack.**

**-Manga Spoilers End-**

**Umm...I don't know what to ask so you can ask me something and I'll answer (if it doesn't give out spoilers).**

**I guess that's it.**

**Until next time,**

**A.**


	7. Chapter 7 Lovers, Battles and War

**I do not own Fairy Tail.**

**I apologize for the graphic scene near the end of this chapter.**

* * *

_Alexa stared up at the leaves of her childhood tree, small yellow buds dotting the old branch she sat on._

_The surprisingly cool night air embraced her always warm skin and she sighed in contentment._

_She had finally managed to escape from the raging party inside the castle walls to the quiet of outside, the noises now just a dull roar._

_She was about to rest her head back to think but a smooth male voice called to her,_

_"Alexa, it's considered rude for the hostess to leave their own party, you know." He chastised without any malice in his tone. The corner of her lips twitched up into a soft smile only reserved for the one in front of her as he climbed up the tree easily._

_When he sat next to her, she immediately rested her head on his shoulder and he responded by wrapping his arm around her waist, pulling her close._

_"I know Shou. I just wanted to reflect a bit." Alexa admitted while rubbing small circles into his pants leg._

_Shou remained quiet for a little while, leaving Alexa to her own thoughts._

_"Do you still love me? After all that's happened, can you still love someone like me?" The unsure, almost inaudible inquiry broke the peace that settled but it did not surprise Shou._

_Instead he took a hand and placed it on the side of her face, his thumb brushing her bangs from her cheek and bringing her face coming a bit closer to his._

_"The only reason why my heart still beats is because you are here with me. Even if the galaxies were destroyed and my body became nothing but dust in the process, my love for you would remain, now and forever." The words he spoke were genuine and the small smile on his face made all unnecessary doubts disappear from Alexa's head._

_Leaning forward he placed a gentle kiss on her lips and she slid her eyes shut, feeling every bit of the love he proclaimed to her._

Alexa opened her eyes and blinked the sleep away; the only things left from her dream – more memory – were the tingling sensation on her lips and the dull ache of loneliness in her heart.

After unsuccessfully trying to shrug it off, along with the uneasy feeling that settled in her stomach, she yawned and stretched her arms.

Removing her limbs from the tangle of sheets, she padded along the magical concrete floors and slipping on her flat ankle boots and grabbing a white lab like coat, she exited her bedroom.

She slid it on over her pajamas as she made her way to where the Celestial Spirit King would be.

Not many Spirits were awake as yet as it was just about morning but the one or two she passed she nodded to in greeting.

The dream she had made her miss her beloved more than she would ever admit so she had to find some way to distract herself.

Luckily, she knew of one sure-fire way.

"Good morning King," she greeted with a final yawn as the last remnants of sleep finally left her.

"Good morning old friend. Why are you up so early?" The great giant asked, watching as the girl did some stretches.

"I wanted to get in a bit of train-" The unease she felt pulsed through her nerves, shocking her like electricity and forcing her to her knees in pain.

Gripping her stomach she hunched forward as the pain escalated and her head began throbbing.

She held a hand to her mouth and a raspy cough grated on her throat, red blood coating her palm when she removed it.

The Spirit King instantly went to call for their healers but Alexa stopped him.

"Wait…it should…pass…soon…" He hesitated but agreed as he watched the tremors slowly come to a stop.

"What was that Alexa?" She stood up, wiped her hand and started looking around desperately, startled eyes flicking from right to left rapidly.

"Luna. She just released a large quantity of magic." Just as she said it, the sky to the Spirit World darkened and screams from its residents could be heard up ahead.

The Spirit King could only stare in rage at what he saw.

"King," Alexa started a bit nervously, "what's going on up there?" He outstretched his hand to her and when she stood on it, he took her up to see what was there.

What she saw made her anger instantly flood her veins.

Thousands of monsters of every size, shape and form were heading toward the Spirit World's official entrance, some of them not even taller than a Nikola while others had the body structures of both Taurus and Capricorn combined.

But one similarity lied within them; they all radiated with so much magic they could have practically been made of it.

"I can't believe this! She's planning to wipe you out!" She yelled, turning to the Spirit King, who looked upon the panicking Spirits with a grim face.

"Round up my subjects in the center for me please. I know what to do." Nodding, albeit hesitantly, she walked over to the edge of this hand and without looking back she whispered to him,

"Don't do anything stupid, King. I don't want to have to save you as well."

She jumped off, leaving him to himself.

Her hair blew behind her as she fell and gripping her pendant tightly, she called a spell.

_**"Change the flames of my magic to wings of the skies and grant me flight**_**!"** Small wings sprouted from her boots and small silver wristbands on her wrists and she took off towards the Spirits.

* * *

Lucy was finishing up breakfast when it happened.

A small rumble shook her apartment, light enough for her to think it was just a carriage passing in front her apartment but when the rumbling didn't stop – furthermore increased, she knew something odd was going on.

She ran over to her bedroom window by the bed, where Natsu and Happy were now waking up, and gasped when she saw the entire town moving to create a path in the center.

"Natsu, what's going on?" Natsu, who was now looking out the window as well, grinned when he saw the transformation.

"Yosh! Happy, get up buddy! He's coming back!" He cheered, picking up the small cat and perching himself on the window sill.

"Come on Luce! You have to meet him!" He held her by the waist and dragged her up onto the window with him, preparing to jump.

Lucy shrieked when she realized that her window was not as close to the ground as it was a few minutes ago.

"W-wait Natsu, I'm still in my pajamas and breakfast is on the table and OH CRAP!" Lucy screamed as he paid no heed to her excuses and leaped, but luck – as always – was not on Lucy's side.

Her foot caught in the window sill and she was torn from Natsu's grasp.

"Natsu you idiot, stop laughing!" She shouted as they fell together, the salmon haired teen's jovial laughter never ceasing.

Pouting, she twisted her body at the last minute and landed in a crouch.

Thank goodness she spent so much time falling out of trees before.

Happy managed to awaken fully just in time to sprout his wings and save Natsu from landing face first into the ground.

"I'm gonna kill you!" She raised a fist but was stopped when Natsu put up his hands in surrender.

"Sorry Lucy," He apologized with a sheepish grin that made Lucy's heart unconsciously melt a bit, "I just got a little carried away." When she rolled her eyes in acceptance of his apology his grin came back full assault and he grabbed her wrist.

"Come on, Luce! We have to get there before he does!" He took off in a full sprint, excitement rolling off of him in waves.

A tick mark appeared on Lucy's head at Natsu's behavior as she struggled to keep her arm in its socket.

"Stop with the dragging, would you? And tell me who this _he _is!"

* * *

When she arrived at the guild, it was basically the same thing.

Excitement and absolute chaos.

Everyone was hustling and bustling about, fixing chairs and tables, cleaning counter tops and overall actually caring about the state of the guild hall.

"What the hell?" Lucy muttered in disbelief, both eyebrows raised at the productivity.

She walked over to the bar where Lisanna was working.

"Can you tell me what the heck is happening here Lisanna-chan? Did someone poison the alcohol or something?" She asked and Lisanna outright laughed at the statement.

"No one has poisoned us yet Lucy-chan. We are just excited for Gildarts to come back."

"Who's that?"

"That my child is Fairy Tail's strongest S-Class mage, Gildarts Clive." an older voice answered and the girls jumped and turned to Makarov.

"Sheesh Master you scared us," Lisanna said as Makarov chuckled.

The answer only made Lucy more curious though.

"Strongest S-Class mage?" Lucy echoed, crossing her arms over her chest, "What does that have to do with everyone in the guild acting like civilized human beings?"

"Gildarts usually goes on really long S-Class and SS-Class missions, and this is the first time the members will be seeing him in a while so their excited."

"Does this have anything to do with the town changing its entire state?"

"Ahh, you mean the 'Gildarts shift'? Because of his massive amount of magic power and his carefree, distracted attitude, the town has to change form so that he doesn't accidentally destroy anything."

"Talk about the environment adapting to you and not the other way around," Lucy sighed, just as another unfamiliar voice snapped her from her musing.

"So I come back to the guild only to hear a newbie talking about me, eh?" The masculine voice made her freeze, the aura coming from behind her filled with power.

Slowly she looked behind her and an 'eep' almost passed her lips as she took in the man's form.

He was tall and muscular, more so than Laxus who was by far the most buff person she'd seen (Taurus was a Spirit he didn't count), with slicked back orange hair and black eyes. His skin was tanned and hardened with many years of battles and his outfit consisted of a high collared cape, pants that were tucked into a pair of boots and his torso was bandaged.

Overall, he looked fricking terrifying but she would not show weakness.

"Hi there, I'm Lucy and I wanted to know about guild's S-Class mages since I'm new here as you said." Lucy said, patting herself on the back mentally for not stuttering.

He stared her down for a few moments before laughing out suddenly, scaring the girl who laughed back awkwardly.

"She's so polite Master. Where did you get her from?' He addressed Makarov who was smiling drunkenly.

Lucy, not wanting to hear anymore, slipped from their sight and skipped over to Laxus who was talking with the Raijinshuu.

When she was right behind him, she draped her body over his, resting her chin on his surprising soft hair.

"Hey Laxus-nii. Whatcha doing?" He peeked up at her from the corner of his eye.

"Nothing much lil blonde. Could you get off of me?"

"Aww, but your hair is so soft and fluffy," Just as Laxus was about to reply to her, a less than happy person butt in.

"You can't talk to Laxus-sama in such a familiar manner. He is superior to you." Freed said while getting up, narrowing his eyes at the blonde.

"He's my big brother-"

"I cannot accept _you_ to be anything to Laxus-sama as long as I live."

"Freed calm do-" Laxus tried but he wasn't listening.

"I refuse to accept this. If she wants to be your little sister, she will have to show me her worth in a duel." The quarrel had caught the attention of the guild, especially Gildarts at the bar, who stared at Lucy in apprehension.

"Alright," she stood to her full height, her stance filled with confidence, "we'll fight. If I win, Laxus will be my nii-san and we will never have this conversation again. But if you win, I'll never speak to Laxus again. Deal?"

The two shook hands and glared hard at each other and the guild was shocked into silence.

That was, until a low whistle sounded out from the bar.

"A fight already and I just got back! Today must be my lucky day." Gildarts grinned, striding over to the table.

"Freed, you know the rules; set a time and a place for the duel."

"In the field behind the guild tomorrow at twelve o'clock. Not a moment later." She nodded, eyes sparkling with determination…

…Until she got outside.

"What the hell did I do?" Lucy sulked, banging her head on the guild wall as a depressed aura surrounded her body.

Natsu only ruffled her hair and smiled proudly at her.

"What you did was defend yourself in true Fairy Tail style! Getting into a fight with someone was something you would've had to do eventually, so why not now? Besides, you can kick his ass any day." She looked up, hopefulness in her eyes.

"Really?"

"Aye sir! I know you're super strong Lucy." Happy said and the blonde's confidence increased further until Erza stepped out of the guild.

"Not really, you know. Laxus doesn't hang out with just anyone. Freed has very admirable strength and it'll take a lot for you to beat him." The depressed aura surrounded Lucy once more and she was just about to go back to banging her head when Erza grabbed her shoulder.

"But I can see that you being Laxus' sister may improve his sour attitude so I shall give you a mini training course."

"Eh, I don't think-" Erza squeezed tightly on her shoulder and she winced.

_"_I insist._"_

"That is an excellent idea!" Lucy said, fake enthusiasm and mild fear dripping from every word.

"Good. Let us get going." Before they could leave, Natsu stopped them.

"Erza, can I come too-"

"No." Erza cut in, "You will only be a distraction to Lucy. Under no circumstances are you to follow us." She narrowed her eyes, _"Do I make myself clear?"_

"A-a-aye!" Smiling in satisfaction, she walked away with Lucy trailing behind her.

Once they were out of earshot, Natsu turned to Happy.

"We're following them right?"

"Aye sir!"

* * *

Lucy and Erza stood equal distances from each other, behind the all girls' dormitory, Fairy Hills.

The lush grass behind Fairy Hills tickled Lucy's bare feet as she shuffled into a fighting stance with a whip made of her own magic.

Erza wanted to test her skills on defense against a sword seeing that Freed was proficient in using one.

Erza dashed forward without warning, brandishing her own gleaming weapon.

Lucy cracked her whip when Erza got too close, but she side-stepped and slashed downwards, forcing Lucy to roll under the blade. She blocked another attack from Erza and wrapped her whip around her sword and pulled, but Erza's sword did not budge. She pulled the whip away and jumped away from her.

"Very good Lucy." She praised, "If you are faced with a weapon you're not used to, try to disarm the enemy immediately."

She rushed at her once again and swiped down at her feet and Lucy back flipped to avoid it.

Twisting her body she flicked her wrist, sending the whip to Erza's face but she blocked and Lucy grinned.

The whip curled around her blade and she pulled as she fell back down, the extra weight making Erza's grip slacken but it remained steady. Erza used this to her advantage and tripped Lucy when she attempted to back away and held the tip of her blade to her neck.

"Unfortunately for you, my grip is far too strong." She grinned in victory and held out a hand to help out Lucy.

Lucy accepted and when Erza tried to pull her up, dragged her down, using her foot as leverage.

Erza, being caught off guard gave Lucy the opportunity to straddle her stomach and picking up the discarded weapon, held her at kill point.

"That was unexpected. I applaud you for getting me pinned." Both females rose to their feet with friendly smiles.

A bush near them rustled and mumbling followed by a loud 'Shh' caused a vein to protrude from Erza's forehead.

She stomped over to the bush and grabbed hold of pink hair and blue fur. "I specifically told you NOT to follow us and you blatantly disobey me?"

Natsu and Happy began sweating bullets as they tried to formulate an excuse that would not get them murdered.

"W-well, we wanted to see if we could help Lucy with her training?" He answered, though it was more of a question than a statement.

This only made Erza grin evilly and tighten her hold on the boys.

"Oh don't worry, you'll get to help out Lucy. Pay attention Lucy; I'm about to teach you how to thoroughly punish troublemakers."

"Wait Erza, don't do-AHHHHH!"

* * *

As the last of the Spirits gathered in the center of their world, Alexa glared at the monsters that were banging on the thick shield that encompassed them.

"This was your plan?" she addressed the King without looking back at him, "They'll be able to break through this like fragile glass soon."

Cool metal pinched against the flesh of her neck and she glanced unfazed at the Spirit Perseus who glared darkly at her.

"You have no right to speak to our King in such a way outsider." When she did not respond, he pushed the blade into her skin as a warning, little pearls of blood running down the golden sword.

"Please do not raise your weapon against her Perseus." He very reluctantly sheathed his weapon as the Celestial King continued speaking.

"This is only a temporary solution. We will need this time to form a proper plan and gain allies…"

"What allies my King? Only we can survive in this realm." Another Spirit, Andromeda spoke up, her black eyes cast to the ground in respect.

The King sighed solemnly before relying, "There is one human who can pass through the gates unharmed."

Alexa's eyes widened but she did not move.

"The Guardian of the Celestial Spirits and the world we live in, Lucy Heartfilia." Gasps and murmurs broke out in the crowd but one particularly loud voice cut through the noise.

"No way is Master fighting in this war!" The scantily clad Vulpecula yelled, Lupus nodding in agreement next to her.

"Lucy is only a child! She can't fight in this war!" Orion protested next to Aquarius who glared viciously at anyone who dared looked at them in a bad way.

Capricorn stepped forward and bowed.

"Normally I would agree with every word you say as that is my nature but I must speak out. Lucy shouldn't be involved in something as dark as a war at such a young age."

"Moo, Lucy's soon-to-be nice body shouldn't be damaged in a war." Many similar protests came from Lucy's Spirits until the Celestial King silenced them.

"QUIET!" The Spirits flinched at his roar and he spoke again, this time softer, "I don't want to do this either, but if we are to be successful in this-"

"You aren't sacrificing that girl's life for something as selfish as that." Alexa's scarily calm voice cut in as she finally turned around, crimson eyes narrowed dangerously at the King.

Perseus swung his sword but she caught it within her bare palm, the heated flesh melting the steel easily.

She tossed the liquefied weapon to the ground and she resumed speaking.

"She has one of the purest hearts I have seen in a very long time and I will not let it be tainted. As long as I am to watch over her she will not be involved in the war."

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

"All of the Celestial Spirits will have to fight; no one can be permitted not to. In case you didn't realize, Luna somehow forced the time to run the same as on Earthland so your magic will regenerate as if you're on Earthland. The panic that would have alerted Lucy to you was just an excuse to lure her here and kill all of you at once."

"Most of these Spirits are contracted however. What will we do about those?" The King countered and Alexa steeled him with an even stare,

_"You will have to cancel all contracts."_

* * *

_The next day…_

_11:56 a.m._

It was four minutes before the fight and Lucy felt more nervous than ever.

Sure she had done extensive crash course training with Erza, and she was confident in obtaining a victory, but that didn't relieve the butterflies that settled in her stomach for a completely different reason.

None of the Spirits she had attempted to summon yesterday appeared.

At first she assumed she just forgot the days they could come but when she checked her notebook, she noticed that they really could be summoned.

This morning she had tried calling out Plue at least but no matter what she tried, he just didn't come.

This sent her nerves into a mess and she tried to calm them before the big fight.

Members of the guild were placing bets and her and Freed were basically tied with him having 51 percent and she having 49.

Whoops and applause brought her from her worrying as Freed, along with the Raijinshuu and Laxus, strode to the field.

Freed took his place a few feet away and Lucy picked up on the fact that he had not changed his outfit whereas Erza forced her into a black yoga shorts, blue tank top and sneakers that she couldn't wear anymore.

She had also managed to force a pair of fingerless gloves with metal knuckles on her hands and with a clamp of the shoulder and a bright smile, wished Lucy the best of luck.

Luck that she may definitely need.

She glanced back onto the sidelines to see Lisanna was now engaged in a heated argument with Bixlow about who would win, Gildarts watching with strangely rapt attention with Levy on his shoulder and next to them was a banner in bright yellow letters that read 'GO LUCE, GO!' held up by Natsu Dragneel and Happy.

No wonder he didn't sleep over at her house last night.

She smiled at them but quickly refocused as Makarov stood between them as the referee.

"Okay, here are the rules. No kill moves. The first to surrender or to become unconscious loses and the other will become the winner. Are you ready?" The mages nodded their heads and he stepped back and raised his hand.

"One…"

The mages shifted stances.

"..Two…"

Freed gripped his rapier and Lucy crouched into a running position.

"..Three!"

Lucy wasted no time speeding off, her magic weaving into a long whip that she flicked at Freed, the end hitting him on the arm. This unfortunately did not faze him and instead he swiped the rapier, letters forming in the air.

"Dark Ecriture: Pain." The rune flew to Lucy but she flipped over it and lashed out again but he twisted his body to avoid it. Jumping back to evade another rune she dissolved her whip and charged her hands and feet with Celestial magic and ran back to him. Lucy blocked his weapon and threw a punch with her right fist that he dodged and followed up with a kick to the side that sent him to the ground.

His body began to become runes and Lucy looked on shocked when the runes vanished.

She spun around, trying to sense him and she soon felt a tingling sensation behind her and she turned around, but it was too late.

"Dark Ecriture: Pain." Instantaneously, pain shot through her body and she let out a scream and fell to her knees.

Freed wrote a rune in the air but Lucy rolled out of the way, the effects of the last spell wearing off.

"Celestial Beam!" A shot of Celestial magic flew from her palm and hit him straight in the chest, sending him stumbling backwards.

She got up and sent two more beams and him before calling another spell.

"Starlight Spheres!" Three of the spheres appeared and two instantly flew to Freed who moved out of the way of them and into the range of the third one.

She ran up to where he should've landed but he disappeared and a piercing pain struck her back and she turned around just in time to block a kick from Freed.

Punches and kicks were thrown at speeds Lucy was barely used to and she found she was having a hard time keeping up.

'Is this the strength of a Fairy Tail mage?' She questioned while avoiding a kick and returning one of her own that hit his chin.

"Are you really putting in the most effort? This is pathetic at best," He taunted as she panted heavily.

"I will not allow someone so weak to stay by Laxus' side any longer. Dark Ecriture: Destruction." Lucy didn't have time to dodge as the purple slash hit her directly, forcing a cry of pain from her lips as she slid across the field.

Suddenly Freed was hovering over her and she could see his right eye behind his bangs; the white was replaced with deep purple and the pupil was now glowing purple.

"Dark Ecriture: Fear." He slashed down and suddenly Lucy wasn't in the battle anymore.

* * *

_Blood filled her vision as her life essence flowed out of her, the stab wound in her side deep._

_She could see the bodies of many others around her and it made her ill when she realized who they were._

_Levy lay sprawled on her side much like Lucy, her dull brown eyes looking out at the endless destruction with Jet and Droy on both her sides, almost in a protective shield around her. _

_Gray's face was covered as he was face down, but she could see that his right arm had been completely severed, almost like it had been ripped off._

_Erza had a sword plunged in her stomach and Cana's throat was ripped out._

_Lisanna's mouth was opened in a scream and her torso was severed, Elfman's left arm and leg were completely gone and Mira's back was extremely bloody as two wings lay ripped out at her sides._

_Laxus and the Raijinshuu were completely mangled and Gildarts' head was a few meters from where his body was._

_She heard footsteps coming her way and familiar school shoes entered her vision._

_"Luna," she croaked as she stared into her smirking face, "where's Natsu?"_

_"Oh him, I thought you would've wanted to see him so I brought him to you." All of a sudden, Natsu appeared in Luna's grasp and she stroked his pink hair gingerly while holding him in a headlock._

_"Luce, you're bleeding out! Let go of me you bitch!" Luna tightened her hold, cutting of his oxygen supply for a split second before releasing._

_"That's no way to speak to someone who holds your life in their hands now is it?" She grinned devilishly and ran long fingernails down the side of his face and he squirmed in her grasp._

_"Let him go," she moved a weak hand to her side where her keys were but froze when broken metal skimmed her fingers._

_Her eyelids became heavy but Luna's voice entered her ears._

_"Ah, ah, ah. No dying yet." She stomped on Lucy's fingers, crushing them and tearing a scream from her._

_"Much better," Luna giggled, "Now you'll get to see Natsu die." Without warning she plunged her fingers into Natsu's stomach and she released him fully, watching as his lifeless body fell to the ground._

_"Now for you Lucy." She squeezed her eyes shut, the fear of dying overwhelming and suffocating her and she wanted it to end._

_And if Luna was going to give it to her, she would gladly take it._

**"Don't give up."**_A strong voice said and fire filled her vision. Alexa soon came out from the flames but Lucy could not move._

**"Don't you dare give up. If you do, Luna and Freed will win."**

_"But I'm scared. I don't want to die." The older girl smiled in understanding,_

**"It's okay to be scared of death but letting your fear control you is not. You need to fight this; you have the power to win." **_Lucy felt her confidence returning and determination filled her gaze._

_"I…I can defeat my fear and I will fight and protect what is precious to me!" Lucy felt her magic refill and Alexa put a hand on Lucy's forehead._

**"I'll give you a spell to help with that."**

* * *

Lucy's screaming finally stopped after a minute and the crowd waited with bated breath to see if she would get back up.

"It appears that Freed-" Makarov paused as he saw Lucy pulse with magic energy and her aura become tinted with orange and she began mumbling.

**_"Stars in the heavens, show me your true form…" _**The sky became midnight blue and millions of stars illuminated the sky as Lucy got up, her hair levitating as the wind picked up.

**_"With the aid of fire come from the sky and aid me…" _**The constellations lit up with an orange-red glow and they began coming together.

**_"As your Guardian, grant me your power in the form of meteors…" _**Everyone started backing away and Freed threw every attack he could at her, but her aura acted as an unbreakable shield.

Her eyes became a bright gold as she called out the last words,

**_"And fall upon my enemy!" _**Six mini meteors fell to the field, destroying everything and leaving dust in its destruction.

When it cleared, Freed was on the ground unconscious, lightly burned and defeated with Lucy standing with only her clothes lightly singed.

Makarov cleared his throat when the stunned silence of his members did not cease.

"And the winner is, Lucy." A small smile ghosted across her face and her eyes fluttered closed.

Natsu caught her before she hit the ground.

"Thank you Alexa, Dawn." She whispered before losing consciousness and Natsu looked up just to see a pair of light blue twintails disappearing behind the guild roof along with the wisp of ice magic in the air.

* * *

A few hours later, Lucy finally woke up.

When the antiseptic reached her nose, she realized that she was in the guild infirmary, where she had awoken on that faithful day about a month ago.

Freed was not in the room so she assumed he must have woken up already.

She attempted to get out of bed but she only managed a pitiful groan before flopping back onto the bed.

An envelope on the bedside table beside her caught her attention and after successfully and painfully sitting up on the bed, she took it up.

A slight bulge pushed out and when she opened it, a gold bracelet came tumbling out.

The jewelry was a bit thin and the beginning and end connected into an infinity sign and dots of silver and blue diamonds were encrusted onto the surface.

One the inside was written, 'Celestial Guardian' in cursive writing, similar to Capricorn's own handwriting.

Lucy put on the bracelet and pulled out the letter and read it.

_"Dear Lucy-sama,_

_I have been in your mother's service for many years and have been in yours for the past 5._

_I have watched you grow into the amazing mage you are today and I wanted to see you grow into much more._

_However, it appears that I will not be able to do so for some time._

_Due to circumstances I may not disclose to you, the rest of your Spirits and I must temporarily cancel our contracts with you for an indefinite amount of time._

_The affairs of the Celestial World are in chaos and all Celestial Spirits must be present._

_Along with this disheartening letter, I have given to you a bracelet that unlocks your Battle Form as the Celestial Guardian._

_When you are ready, it shall become available to you._

_I must go, please do not be angry at us._

_Until we meet again,_

_With love,_

_Your Celestial family."_

Lucy crumpled the letter beneath her fingers as she read the last word.

"Angry at you? I'm angry at myself," She glared at the paper as tears began pooling in her eyes.

"If I'm your Guardian, then why can't I be trusted to help you? Why must I be given this power when I can't use it to protect you? Why must I stay behind when you all suffer?" She sniffled and wiped the tears from her eyes but they just kept forming.

"It's not fair." She bit her lip to force back a sob as she let her tears fall.

"I want to bear some of you burdens so why can't I?!" She cried as she gripped the sheets.

She didn't see when Natsu entered the room, nor did she feel when he sat on her bed.

She felt the warmth of his body hold her in a comforting embrace and his steady heartbeat quieted her cries to soft hiccups and she soon found herself asleep.

He held the sleeping girl within his grasp, rocking her back and forth gently.

He knew the pain of losing your family but to see Lucy of all people go through it sent fire to his veins.

"I'll be your family from now on Luce. I'll always stay by your side." He promised, placing a kiss on her forehead, the stars his only witness to his heartfelt words.

* * *

**Aaand done! Hello everyone! It's nice to see you again and I missed you. Now now, before you get all angry I just wanted to apologize for not updating in forever.**

**It's just that I was typing one day, realized that the chapter sucked and when I was in the process of writing it over, exams were here and I had to study.**

**I'm so so so sorry and I can say that my exams are over and I have more time to do everything!**

**YAY!**

**Anywho, this chapter…how did you like it?**

**Was it utter crap? Or was it fantastic? Or was it meh?**

**Leave you reviews along with the answers to my questions please:**

**What is your favorite CANON couple? I don't mean the couples that you want with all your heart, soul and mind to get together*cough* NaLu *cough*, I mean the couples that like each other, confessed and are on their way to make an army of babies.**

**Mine is UsagixMamoru or SerenaxDarien from Sailor Moon.**

**They are just sooo adorable!**

**The second question is what is your favorite group/singer/band and your favorite song from them?**

**Mine is a three-way tie between Imagine Dragons, Evanescence and Linkin Park.**

**The songs are Smoke + Mirrors, Call Me When Your Sober and New Divide respectively.**

**Those are amazing…although Evanescence is super creepy at times…**

**Anyway, don't forget to review fave and follow!**

**With all my love,**

**A.**


	8. Chapter 8 The Beginning of the End

**I do not own Fairy Tail.**

**Also, if you don't like Lisanna and Lucy friendship and prefer to see her being a bitch I recommend you stop reading right now.**

* * *

_2 years later…_

_Proper Grocer, Hargeon…_

"Are you freaking kidding me old man?" A blonde haired female asked, slamming her hands onto the counter, making the man flinch.

"Fifty thousand jewels for Canes Venatici? Don't you ever learn your lesson?" The man behind the counter started sweating profusely as he stuttered out an excuse to the scary 17 year old.

"B-but Lucy-chan, this key is rare as it is a-and-"

"That's not an excuse, especially not to one of your best customers," she leaned in closer to the terrified man's face, _"is it now?"_

"N-n-no ma'am!"

.

.

"Ok then, see you next time!" Lucy waved cheerfully to the traumatized old man as she clutched two new keys to her chest.

"He really was kind enough to lower the price by so much and still give me another key for free." She mumbled to herself but on the inside she was patting herself on the back for a job well done.

Coming to a stop on the sidewalk she pulled both keys out and adopted her summoning stance.

"I am linked to the path of the world of Celestial Spirits, now! O Spirits answer my call and pass through the gate! Open, gate of the Hunting Dogs, Canes Venatici and gate of the Compass, Pyxis!" The magic circle did not appear nor did the bells toll to signal the Spirits passing through the gates, just as they didn't for the past two years.

She sighed in defeat and placed the keys into her pouch, where the others laid cold and unused.

In two years' time, she had changed both mentally and physically. She had grown into her figure, now sporting a large bust and a small waist leading to her wide hips and curvy butt and her hair now reached her mid-back and it was in two ponytails. She wasn't really ready for this sudden development but she definitely wasn't ashamed of it as today she wore a sleeveless white and blue collared shirt that was zipped down just a bit to show her cleavage, a short blue skirt and brown boots, along with her belt on her hips that contained a new whip that she got for her birthday from Laxus of all people and her key ring.

She unfortunately hadn't found any Gold keys but many new Silver keys were now in her possession.

Some of them were the Shield Scutum, the Chained Lady Andromeda, the Hero Perseus and the Swan Cygnus.

Even though she couldn't use them anymore, she still went around collecting as much as possible until the day she could see them again.

Lucy was still sad about her loss but made up for it by training herself even harder than before.

She had gotten faster and stronger, some of the credit due to the golden bracelet on her right wrist.

Her Guardian form was armor that would have been hell to wear if Capricorn didn't train her in strength so well over the years but she adapted to it relatively quickly.

She had also mended her relationship with Freed and the two were now quite close, along with the rest of the Raijinshuu.

But she had no luck with locating the three outsiders.

She had attempted to track Luna along with Alexa and Dawn but it seemed the three had suddenly dropped off the map as there was no trace of them anywhere.

She really didn't think they would just leave like that but after two entire years, she was beginning to believe that they had gone back to their world… wherever that was.

_"Help…"_

Lucy stopped at the plea, glancing around for anyone that might have been calling her.

A hum and a nagging at the back of her mind told her that the voice was familiar to her yet she couldn't put her finger on who it could belong to.

Shaking her head as it cleared, she focused on the task at hand; finding Natsu, Lisanna and Happy.

Happy refused to come at first because of the trouble the trio got into when they went on missions together as a team but they managed to convince him when they told him they were going to a harbor full of fish.

The three mages and cat were on a mission to search for a slave trading group who had been kidnapping women and was last seen in Hargeon.

She was originally going on the mission by herself but the two suddenly invited themselves along and she couldn't say no.

They had formed a team a long time ago, unfortunately called 'Team Natsu' because the idiot sneaked it onto the registration form and handed it in before they could catch him.

Though, she liked to go on missions alone once in a while.

Besides, what best friend would she be if she left them behind?

Well, best friends in terms of Lisanna and Happy anyway.

Two years ago if anyone was to ask her what she thought of Natsu Dragneel she would have easily replied 'friend,' but soon friend turned into best friend until an unfamiliar feeling crept into her heart and she didn't realize what it was until about a year and a half ago when they were on their monthly star-watching trip.

_*Flashback*_

_One and a half years ago…_

_Natsu and Lucy lay side by side, watching the twinkling stars above them. They looked forward to this at the end of every month because the time was usually spent with Lucy pointing out different constellations to him and telling him the stories behind them. The two stayed in the silence as Lucy searched pointlessly for a constellation even though she knew what she was going to say to him._

_Lucy cleared her throat after gathering her courage but refused to look at Natsu as she spoke._

_"I have a now constellation to show you today. I think you'll really like it." He grinned brightly which only served to make her even more nervous._

_Grabbing his hand she pointed it at a bright star and began her tale._

_"The great Dragon, Draco was not always found wrapped around the Celestial North Pole. It was originally a mighty beast, said to have many heads and stood at an enormous height, its wise eyes flashing with fire._

_Because this Dragon was one of the mightiest creatures of the time, beneath the gods, the goddess Hera asked the Dragon to help guard the golden apple tree she had received as a wedding gift in the Garden of the Hesperides._

_Draco, known as Ladon at the time accepted, and guarded the tree with fervor, making sure no one came to steal the apples which granted immortality._

_One day the hero Hercules was given 12 labors to complete, one of them being to steal some of the apples from the tree._

_He slayed the great beast with his poisoned arrows and was able to get them with the help of the one who held up the sky, Atlas._

_When Hera saw this, she was greatly saddened and for his loyalty to her placed him in his place in the sky where he is seen today."_

_She dropped his hand and laughed nervously when he said nothing, which was strange because he would always fire off questions when she was finished._

_"Why did you show this to me Lucy?" He asked seriously causing Lucy to freeze from being caught before sighing and sitting up._

_"To be honest, I didn't know how to bring it up but if you're looking for a dragon then Draco might know where Igneel is. I mean he might be a constellation now, but he was still a dragon and is a Celestial Spirit, who by the way is immortal, so he should have a clue or something about where he is if I can find his key…" She trailed off but let out a squeak when she was suddenly brought into a tight hug by Natsu, his strong arms enveloping her fully._

_"Would you really do that for me?" He inquired in a slightly disbelieving tone that made Lucy's heart rate skip a beat as she sighed and hugged him back just as tightly._

_"Of course I would. You're my best friend Natsu; there isn't anything I wouldn't do for you," Heat rushed to her cheeks when his arms tightened around her and he took a deep breath and she leaned against him completely, his warmth seeping into her._

_"Thank you," Those two words meant more to her than they probably should have and it made her face burn and her heart hammer in her chest and then realization hit her like a roundhouse kick to the stomach._

_She had a crush on Natsu Dragneel._

_*Flashback end*_

The crush she had discovered quickly turned into a like and before she knew or could even comprehend it, she was in love with her stupid partner.

And best of all, no one knew.

…Except for the sneaky bastard known as Lisanna Strauss.

She had all but casually mentioned it one day when Lucy was eating breakfast at the guild hall, a bit of the sausage she was chewing flew out of her mouth as she started choking on the other piece. When she finally managed to swallow it she looked around desperately but luckily (or not) no one had even batted an eyelash at her choking episode.

Nice to know she was appreciated.

Anyway Lisanna had annoyed her to no end until Lucy finally confessed it which had her squealing like the giddy girl she was and still is.

She had promised not to tell but had served to make Lucy's life miserable, often teaming up with Happy – who was a lot more troublesome than the cute thing let on – to tease and embarrassed her relentlessly while Natsu stayed oblivious to it all.

Lucy was forcefully removed from her thoughts when a loud collection of fangirl screams came from the direction of the town square.

What she saw made her snort with laughter.

A gigantic horde of females were surrounding someone she couldn't see and they were all screaming incoherently.

But what was really funny however was that Lisanna was in the middle of the fray.

Sweet, mischievous Lisanna who only started taking a bit of an interest in boys when she was well into being 16 and only wanted to marry Natsu cause she thought he was gonna be lonely for the rest of his existence, was currently attempting to pull another girl's hair out for god-knows-what.

As she got closer, she realized that the girls were actually screaming for a guy called Salamander.

Huh, wasn't that Natsu's nickname?

Grabbing Lisanna's shoulders she began shaking the girl back and forth.

"What is wrong with you?" Upon further inspection of the now disoriented girl, she realized her eyes had hearts in them.

'Hearts are not natural in someone's eyes…except for that one book I was reading but this is the real world so this has to be the work of some love charms.' She nodded her head in answer and turned to look Lisanna in the eyes…

…And started smacking her in the face repeatedly.

"You. Are. Under. The. Effect. Of. A. Love! Spell! Dummy!" The hearts in the white-haired girl's eyes broke suddenly and she stared at Lucy in confusion.

"When did you get here Lucy-chan? And why does my face hurt so badly?" Said blonde chuckled hesitantly.

"Don't worry about that. You were under a love charm from some guy at the center of this mob."

"Now it makes sense why I was trying to pull that girl's hair out. I wanted to know if he was hot or not but there was only some really creepy guy with no sense of fashion."

"And he's even using Natsu's name too, that asshole." In the middle of their rant the mob had turned to them and was now glaring daggers at the two who hardly took notice until one spoke up.

"How dare you two skanks insult Salamander-sama!" She yelled and Lisanna instantly turned on her, her words like venom.

"What did you just call us, you plastic bitch? Your face looks like if it caught on fire and someone tried to put it out with a fork. Oh and I guess you and _pretty boy _over there didn't get the talk about what sex positions give the ugliest children huh? How about you go ask your mother?" The girl's face turned a burning red from embarrassment but before she could retaliate a voice broke in.

"Now now, don't fight girls." 'Salamander' said, stepping between the three as he sent a flirtatious wink towards them.

"How about you come to my yacht for a party tonight? All of you beautiful ladies are invited."

"No thanks creep," Lucy and Lisanna waved offhandedly but the other girls went back to swooning easily.

The two stared at each other for a few seconds before shrugging.

"He's definitely one of the smugglers, isn't he? Bora of Prominence right?" Lisanna mused as they strolled away from the mob.

"Yup, I would recognize that horrible fashion sense anywhere. It makes him look like some everyday weirdo looking for attention. And in any case, did he think that name could fool us?"

"I know right, everyone knows that he's not Salamander. Only Natsu goes by that name."

As they walked passed another brawl caused by the fake Salamander, hands grabbed Lucy and Lisanna's ankles and they looked down to see a pink tuft of hair sticking out from the brawl and Happy floating nearby, watching to make sure Natsu didn't actually die without helping him.

"Save me…" Lucy sighed and Lisanna giggled before they both grabbed a hand and pulled, successfully freeing Natsu.

"Thanks guys." He grinned but Lisanna was too busy snickering at a thought that popped into her head.

"Why were you even in the middle of the crowd anyway? Were you giving into your inner desires about your feminism?" She draped an arm across the now irritated boy's shoulder and grinned cheekily, "Don't worry; I'll accept you no matter who you want to be _Natsumi_." He growled at her and her grin widened.

"Why you-ACK!" He was pulled back by his scarf before he could make a move and his anger died down as he looked at Lucy who wore an unimpressed expression.

"Stop fighting guys. It's lunch time." Natsu whopped and ran off in search of a restaurant with Happy following with an 'Aye sir!' leaving Lucy and Lisanna to tag along behind him.

* * *

"So that guy with the violent chicks is the one we're supposed to be looking for?" Natsu asked, shoveling food into his mouth, bits and pieces landing on the girls.

Lisanna crinkled her nose in disgust and pushed her plate away while nodding.

"Yeah, he's using illegal love charms and on top of that inviting those people to his yacht, there is no way he can't be our guy."

"So, when are we gonna beat him up?" Lucy rolled her eyes at his impulsive violence while stirring her soup.

"We aren't just going to 'beat him up', we need to infiltrate his party and capture the others working with him first and free whoever else he might have captured…then we can beat him up." He flashed a toothy grin and Lisanna nudged Lucy when she saw the light pink that dusted her cheeks.

This earned a kick under the table to her shin until they caused an all-out foot war while Natsu and Happy cleaned out the entire kitchen.

One extremely long bill and abusive foot war later found Lucy and Lisanna sitting back to back on a bench, Lucy reading a book she had brought along and Lisanna filing her nails.

Natsu and his cat were in some bushes nearby and the girls waited patiently as bait for Bora to show up.

Soon enough he sauntered up to them, sending what was probably supposed to be a charming smile and then spoke.

"Hello my beauties. Would you reconsider coming to my party?" Lucy snapped her book shut just as Lisanna abandoned her file to press herself into Bora's side.

"Salamander-sama," she fake cooed, "We would love to come but we don't want you only paying attention to those other girls." She stuck out her bottom lip in a pout while Lucy traced a fingernail down his jaw to his chin to force him to look at her.

"That's right Salamander-sama, if we go; you're only going to look at them. We want you all to ourselves." She whispered the last part in his ear and smirked slightly when she felt him swallow.

"W-well when you put it like that, I think I can get you into the VIP section so we can spend as much time as possible together. I might even be able to get you into Fairy Tail." The pair's flirtatious smiles turned deadly at the end of his sentence but luckily Bora didn't notice and they backed away a bit.

"Thank you, bye-bye!"

"See you soon!" He waved and sauntered off, just as he came.

When they couldn't see his form anymore, they slumped back onto the bench.

'I feel disgusted." Lisanna moaned wiping at her arms as if that would get rid of Bora's touch on her.

"I need a bath and then I might just drown him later. I can't believe him, throwing around Fairy Tail's name like that.' Lucy agreed as Natsu stalked out of the bushes and went straight passed them muttering something along the lines of 'I'm gonna kill that bastard.'

Happy came out next but hovered near Lucy's head to say,

"He liiiikes you."

"Come back here you stupid cat!"

"Ah Lisanna help me! Lucy wants to turn me into a fur pelt!"

Lisanna just giggled and waved at the blue feline as she watched her best friend try to kill him.

* * *

Later that night Lucy and Lisanna were escorted to fake Salamander's private room and they sat down in two chairs.

They wore matching short dresses in different colors; Lucy's was a maroon while Lisanna's was a sea green.

Lucy wore gloves to hide her guild mark while Lisanna's dress was long enough to hide hers on her thigh.

Bora sat opposite them and he poured them glasses of orange wine.

"Let's start off with a toast shall we?" He snapped his fingers and small liquid bubbles came out of the wine, but it didn't even faze the two girls.

In fact, Lisanna looked ready to punch him in the nose while Lucy seemed to barely hear him, her eyes drifting around the room for anything suspicious.

She knew that Natsu was already on the inside waiting for their signal but she still needed to be on alert.

"Now open wide and savor the fruit flavored gems as they enter your mouth…"

'Come on, you have to deal with it Lucy, just a little while longer until Natsu gives the signal…' Lucy pleaded but Lisanna next to her didn't bother keeping calm and just snapped.

"What the hell is this crap?" Lisanna stood up from her seat and flung the bubbles away, furious eyes narrowed in Bora's direction. Lucy sighed and face palmed.

"Do you think that something as stupid as that would work? From the time you opened that bottle I could smell the sleeping magic in there."

Fake Salamander looked shocked that they figured it out but he smirked in response.

"You're pretty sharp, huh? But it's too late." The curtains opened and revealed more of Bora's men standing there with the unconscious guests, surrounding the two girls.

"Welcome to my ship. Please be good until we reach Bosco girls." He expected the ladies to be cowering in fear by now so he was a bit ticked off when he saw them blatantly ignoring him.

"What the heck? Looks like Natsu didn't do his job." Lisanna sighed, not even intimidated by the size or number of men there.

"What did we expect? We're on transportation." Lucy frowned but nonetheless slid under her dress and pulled out her whip from the strap on her thigh while removing her gloves.

"Oi, aren't you scared? I promised to take you to Fairy Tail; you should at least be concerned about that."

"Why would we be when we're already members Bora?" It was Lucy's turn to smirk in his direction as she flashed him her pink guild mark on her hand.

"Enough of the chit-chat, I wanna fight! Animal Soul: Cat!" A purple magic circle opened under Lisanna and her outfit had changed to a two piece stripped halter bikini and she now sported longer hair, cat ears, a tail and claws.

She launched to one of his men almost immediately, slashing him across the chest before kicking a second in the face.

"You-how do you know my name?"

"Because dickface," A new voice growled and Bora couldn't suppress the shiver that crawled down his spine, "she already knows the real Salamander."

That was when an all-out fight broke out – well at least it would've been if Natsu didn't pass out from his motion sickness after his speech – and Lucy and Lisanna had found themselves flung out of the yacht which was miles from port.

Lisanna had transformed into her half-transformation Harpy just in time to grab Lucy mid-air as the two thought of how to get all those people back to shore.

"In a situation like this I would call Aquarius and just let us get swept back to shore but I guess I'll have to improvise. Lisanna-chan, put me back into the water, I have an idea." The white haired takeover mage dropped the blonde back into the water and she closed her eyes and focused on the sea surrounding her.

'This will not end well for me…'

"Magic Transfer: Element Transfer: Water!" A magic circle opened up underneath the boat and herself and her magic combined with the water below.

The ocean moved and shifted to her will and the waves swelled up bigger and rougher as she forced them to push her back to shore.

Once or twice she felt herself being pushed under by the rough waves but Lisanna managed to pull her back up before she became fish food.

Soon enough, they made it back to Hargeon's shore where Lucy slumped in exhaustion.

"I really hope that the Spirits finish whatever they're doing back in their world." She grumbled as Lisanna de-transformed and watched as Natsu burst out from the ship along with Bora and the rest of his water-logged crew.

"What the…" Whatever Bora was about to say next was lost as he was pummeled into the ground by Natsu, with him not even being able to attack.

"You captured those girls and made Lucy do those horrible things just to get on your good side and you even used Fairy Tail's name to do it as well." He was seething with barely controlled rage, smacking around Bora's men like flies.

It always exhilarated Lucy to see Natsu that angry, then have him take it out on his opponents so when Lisanna was about to jump in to help she pulled her back by her dress and sat her down.

Even when Bora launched a 'Prominence Typhoon' at the boy, she did nothing but shake her head.

'That idiot is seriously going to die now,'

"Are you really a fire wizard? Those flames tasted gross!" He exclaimed, though he still continued to gulp the flames easily.

"You really are a sadist aren't you Lucy-chan? We both know Natsu gonna murder that fool and you're here with your weird fetish to Natsu in period-rage mode."

"It's not a fetish Lisanna-chan. _You_ just don't see the natural prowess of the dragon when he's like this,"

"Whatever you say Lucy-chan,"

The girls barely tuned back in to see Natsu release a 'Fire Dragon's Roar', effectively blowing up the remainder of the port.

Natsu stood from the rubble, eyes alight with fire.

"Boss, I think I've seen this guy before. Pink hair and the scarf that looks like scales…that's the real Salamander!"

"Remember it well…this is what a true Fairy-fuck Lucy! You're choking me!" Lucy gripped his scarp tighter as her own rage began to surface.

"You had the gall to release such a powerful attack and MISS?!" She snarled before pushing him back to the sand and snapping her head up to Bora, making him swallow harshly.

"You…you made me flirt with you in the most ridiculous way, use Fairy Tail's name in your ridiculous schemes and then you just HAD to dodge the attack that destroyed the entire port?! Do you know how much rent I'm gonna lose now?! I was gonna let Natsu kill you but I'll just do kick your ass by myself!"

She ran toward him at a speed he couldn't follow while sidestepping each of his attacks and launched into the air, hands out and a magic circle forming in her outward facing palms.

"Cosmic Beam!" A golden beam of Celestial Magic shot from her hands straight into the middle of Bora's chest, sending him back to the ground.

"Hell Pro-" The spell had barely left Bora's lips and Lucy pushed her foot into his gut in a drop kick, sending him spiraling across the sand.

"Boss, I remember her too. The one that breaks the heavens with a mighty fist, the protector of the cosmos, the Celestial Guardian of Fairy Tail!"

Bora was almost in tears as Lucy's shadow engulfed him and a sadistic smile lit up her face.

"Do you give up?" She said her signature phrase as Bora nodded rapidly.

"Good. I'm going to hand you into the authorities and if I hear of sliver of complaint, I'll silence you myself."

"Was Lucy always so scary?" Natsu whispered as the other Fairy Tail mages observed Lucy slapping magic-restraining handcuffs on Bora and pushing him into the Rune Knights that gathered while collecting their reward.

"I feel like I've witnesses Armageddon…" Happy agreed from Lisanna's bosom as the girl only rolled her eyes.

"You guys, we go on missions with her all the time. Hell, this is how she acts every time you destroy something and she loses rent money."

The aforementioned female stalked passed them and with a glare directed at Natsu muttered,

"You are soo lucky they still gave me the full reward and I just managed to _convince_ them to deal with the damage themselves and not bill Fairy Tail." Natsu rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and apologized with sad eyes.

"Sorry Luce but I just wanted to get revenge on him for making you do things you don't like." She dropped the act and ruffled his hair with a smile.

"I'm not mad anymore. I just want a shower and my warm bed."

"I hear you Lucy-chan," Lisanna yawned as the group walked away from the destroyed port.

_"Help Lucy…"_

She stopped again as the hum grew louder in her ears, the nagging becoming more consistent and irritating.

"Do you guys hear someone calling for me?" Lucy asked but they shook their heads no.

'What is this? Is it something to do with the Spirit World?'

At this thought, the humming turned into a deafening ringing sound until the words floated over her once again.

_"Lucy…help us…"_

Then as quickly as it came it disappeared, leaving behind only a dizzy spell Lucy blinked away easily.

"Are you okay Lushi?" She smiled at the worry in the little feline's eyes and patted him on the head.

"Yup, just tired is all." Her foot hit into something and when she looked down, Natsu was squatting on the ground with his back to her.

"If you were tired you should've just said so you weirdo. I know you were the one to get us back to shore with that transfer spell and that must have been exhausting for you. Come on, hop on my back."

Without a complaint she jumped onto his back and he hooked his hands beneath her thighs and restarted walking, Lisanna and Happy a bit behind them, giggling like mad.

"When are these two going to ever stop torturing us and get together?" Lisanna sighed as Happy nestled onto her white head.

"I don't know Lisanna but hopefully it'll be soon."

The team's journey home was peaceful and full of happiness, the storm that would shake their world creeping up behind them to spark the beginning of the end.

* * *

**Aaand done! I was on a roll this chapter so here you are.**

**How are you guys?**

**What do you think of today's chapter?**

**Leave any comments in the reviews and don't forget to fave as well as follow!**

**Also, what do you think of people hating on Lucy/Lisanna cause they ship NaLu/NaLi?**

**Personally I think that neither of those girls deserve hate and I find them both adorable!**

**Especially with their new hairstyles in the manga! Lisanna's pigtails are sooo kawaii!**

***Ahem* Anyway, do enjoy your weeks and weekends and I'll see you again soon!**

**With Love,**

**A.**


	9. Chapter 9 The War's End and Remeetings

**I do not own Fairy Tail.**

**Also before I forget, the rating is now M because sometimes I may tend to get pretty rough with the violence but other than that enjoy!**

* * *

The sharp edge of a silver katana dug its way into a large, bear-like monster's back, its dying scream blending amongst his comrades own as black liquid oozed from the fallen creature.

A slightly tanned, battle worn hand yanked the blade out and the owner stepped to the side, slashing downwards to catch another beast in the face then flipping over to behead it without hesitation.

Landing on the balls of her feet gracefully, blue eyes scanned the area, briefly flicking over other battles while taking count of how many allies they had left.

It was not looking good for their side.

Just as she was about to go help a struggling Leo Minor, a voice she had become somewhat familiar with over the years stopped her.

"Alexa!" She glanced in the corner of her eye to see who was calling her and quickly turned when she realized it was Corvus, the Crow.

The small black bird landed on her left shoulder and she winced internally but kept a straight face on the outside.

"What's wrong Corvus?"

"The King wants to regroup for the day. He has something important to tell us." At her stiff nod he flew off to the other fighting Spirits.

Releasing the sword, the steel returned to its original flamed state and when it reabsorbed into her body, she forced her feet to run to the Celestial King.

In the two years that she had been fighting, not much had changed for Alexa.

Her hair had quickly become a favorite for the monsters to pull or bite on, forcing her to cut it to mid-back where it hung in a low ponytail by scraps she had managed to salvage. Her lab coat was soon ripped and made into bandages – that could be seen secured tightly around her left shoulder, down her arm and on her ankle – when she became injured and couldn't get back to base.

Among these were only minor changes to the now twenty year old adult but she only wished she could say the same for the Celestial Spirits.

Most of their eyes had become hollowed and haunted, quickly losing their shine as the days of battles took its dreadful toll. Many of them who fought hardly said a word anymore while the few who tended to the injured constantly had tear tracks staining their faces and blank looks clouding their eyes.

But the worst of it was the despair that clung to them like leeches.

At first, when they were all full on magic power and confidence, they defeated the creatures they had affectionately named Nightmares with such little difficulty that it made Alexa's stomach clench in distress and all warning bells go off in her head.

Unfortunately a second wave had rained down on them not even one hour after and they barely fended off the attack only for it to restart the next day.

Optimism, along with magic had left them, hopelessness hanging on like thick blankets on them save for the few Spirits that had something to fight for and Alexa, who had already fought in wars as brutal as this in her own country.

The Celestial Spirit King was the only one unable to fight because of his massive size and the fact that all of his magic was currently being put into keeping the Spirit World from collapsing too quickly.

That part they kept from the Celestial Spirits.

But, as she dodged a collapsing brick floor that melted into oblivion, it seemed that this was becoming more futile as time passed.

Even as they despaired, the King would not allow her to remove the bracelets still attached to her wrist and she had no choice but to listen.

It was only about 6 months ago she was allowed to remove two of them, but the magic that was released quickly diminished with each passing day.

Her throbbing ankle forced her to reduce her run into a limp when she got nearer to where the others were already gathered.

"I have some bad news," She heard the King say as she moved to the front of the crowd. He caught her steely gaze and inclined his head slightly, his grim expression causing dread to bloom within her.

Though she kept the blank expression on her face and she subtly nodded back.

"The Celestial Spirit World is running out of power and will soon collapse." Gasps and curses slipped from everyone present, except Alexa who just hung her head.

She had felt it for a while now and was only waiting for the King's confirmation.

A prickling at the back of her neck caused her to glance up into the furious gaze of Perseus.

"You knew didn't you?" The noise quieted as the Spirits waited for her response.

"So what if I did?" A smirk played on her lips as she spoke, yet her eyes gave away nothing, only fueling Perseus' anger further.

"Do you see what is happening? We are at WAR here. People are fighting and getting injured and the only reason half of us aren't dead is because we're immortal. And now our home is being destroyed and possibly was being destroyed for the longest time and you KNEW?! What else have you been keeping from us?"

"Perseus that is-" The Spirit King started but Alexa shook her head.

"It's okay King." She then turned to the Hero Spirit with deadly narrowed eyes that made him shrink back slightly, "You want to know what else I've been keeping from you, fine. I'm the reason for this war in the first place. My own sister is the one who has been sending these monsters and you know why? To kill me. You see this?" She held up the last bracelet that hung on her scarred wrist, "With this I have enough power to wipe out all of the Nightmares here but I don't want to."

"You have enough magic to kill all these things yet you didn't? Why the fuck are you being so selfish?" He watched as her blue irises changed to crimson as she strode up to him, her limp not making her any less dangerous.

Alexa grasped his shirt underneath the armor he wore and pulled him closer to her face.

"Do you really want to know? Your King asked me not to. My magic is not something to take lightly and if I released it all, everyone here would die from the backlash." She released him but did not break eye contact, "Am I that selfish since I don't want to see anyone else die because of me? I made a promise to someone and I'm sure as hell going to keep it; even if I have to appear as the villain."

"But," her eyes returned to blue and a smile ghosted over her face as she stepped back away from his personal space, "Heroes are never good villains in the first place are they?" Her gaze darted up to the Celestial Spirit King.

"Hey King, I think it's time I stop holding back huh?"

He gave a solemn smile along with a nod, and she motioned for the Spirits to get behind her.

Alexa unclasped the ruby bracelet and let it clatter to the ground and her body began pulsing with raw magic.

She also removed her necklace and it transformed into a staff about her height.

She breathed deeply and let a magic circle open up underneath her feet before reciting a spell from memory.

**_"_****_Gates to the time keeper's power, become open to me,_**

**_Path of the dimension traveler become my own,_**

**_Aid me in the creation of a new realm,_**

**_One of stars and planets, where gravity is plentiful yet little,_**

**_Be complete with my magic and the oaths be fulfilled, _**

**_And let the gateway to this new world be summoned!"_**

With a rumble a towering archway with two large doors, as tall as the Celestial Spirit King, appeared before them as the Spirits sucked in breaths of astonishment.

Alexa touched the tip of her staff to the bottom of the arch and bright red runes in an ancient tongue were inscribed into it all the way across and she stepped back with a pleased sigh, placing the now de-transformed necklace back around her neck with shaky fingers.

"There you go! A new home gifted by yours truly for screwing up; all secured from danger and everything."

"How…how did you do that?" She grinned brightly at the crowd because she couldn't tell which Spirit it was anymore and why were the sounds blending together?

"You don't expect me to have some tricks up my sleeve? Please, this was nothing. Now go to your new home!" She pushed open the large doors with the help of the Celestial King and ushered them through, pausing to lock eyes with a specific mermaid Spirit.

"Don't worry…you'll meet again soon." Her dull blue eyes widened and glassed over briefly before she stepped through the gate, hand tightly clasped within her boyfriend's.

The last to pass was the great giant himself as his scarlet orbs, dull with wisdom and age met hers as she bowed at his feet.

"Celestial Spirit King, I thank you for everything you have done for me. Inviting me into your home and treating me like one of you when I didn't and still don't deserve to be called a Celestial Spirit even if it was just temporarily. I am forever in your debt."

"Rise Alexa, for you have shown you are more than worthy to be called a Celestial Spirit, and my old friend." Tears prickled the corner of the red haired mage's eyes as she stood on both feet, the two flashing bright smiles at each other.

"You now have a favor from one of most powerful monarchies in my realm. Just call and I shall come to your aid." With one final nod, he entered the gates and they slammed shut with a loud creek, disappearing in a white flash.

It was only then Alexa let herself crumple to her knees.

Her head collided with the remaining concrete pathways and a ragged breath left her lungs, cold sweat forming along her brow.

A trail of blood trickled from her bottom lip to her chin and her eyesight blurred while a headache began pounding into her skull.

This was what she got for straining her magic to the limits.

Creating an entire dimension with such specifics wasn't easy, but somehow she had managed to pull it off without collapsing inbetween.

But now she was paying the price for pushing her body too far.

A breathy chuckle escaped her that escalated into a blood curdling cough that send some of the liquid splattering in front of her as a dulled sound reached her ears and unfocused eyes searched blindly in the waning distance.

'I could've sworn I just heard…' Low growls reached her hearing once more and she tilted her head to the side to see a pack of huge gray wolves coming towards her, along with one at least 7 feet tall who she assumed was the leader.

"Dire wolves… and a Fenrir…" She breathed weakly just as the floor cracked and vanished beneath them, sending them to Earthland as the previous Celestial World disappeared into oblivion.

* * *

_"__Remember us Lucy…" The voices said softly, Lucy spinning in the direction she thought she heard it from to be greeted by nothingness._

_Again she was stuck in a black space and again, someone was calling for her and she had no clue who they were._

_Well, that was a lie because she did recognize the voices yet for the life of her she couldn't remember who they belonged to._

_"__Lucy…remember us…" _

_"__Who am I supposed to remember if you don't tell me?" She shouted back but for once was answered with silence._

_Groaning in annoyance she sat crossed-legged on the floor and tried to remember who she had apparently forgotten._

_There was Fairy Tail, but she'd never forget them, even the ever elusive Gildarts who hadn't come to the guild for two years now._

_There was her biological family; her father was a part of that group, but she hardly thought it was him and her mother already had her chance to trap Lucy in a dark space._

_When she thought about family, others came forth before her parents…lots of others._

_A dark cloud formed over her thoughts, blocking a picture from her memories from her as she struggled to remember who she had forgotten._

_But all she tried, the picture remained from her grasp and she quickly became frustrated._

_"__Ugh, Capricorn would have my head if he found out how forgetful I… am…" Before the sentence could fully leave her lips the fog lifted, revealing her Spirits in the forgotten picture._

_"__How did I forget them?"_

_"__Because Luna didn't want you to remember," The scenery changed to a medieval throne room with Lucy standing in front of the red throne._

_The person on the throne made her eyes widen._

_"__Alexa?" The lady smiled but shook her head._

_"__I am not the one you speak of, though I do know her." Upon further inspection she realized that the woman sitting in the chair was at least 25, and though they both had the same colored hair, Alexa's was more of a dull version to the bright tresses that looked like actual flames on the mystery lady's head. Their eyes were also different as she had bluish-gray eyes instead of the bright blue Alexa possessed._

_Despite these differences, they still looked uncannily similar which caused unease to flutter through her briefly._

_As if able to sense this, she introduced herself._

_"__I am Alex, Alexa's direct ancestor and previous Queen of the Fire Kingdom in Alexa's original world."_

_"__Why are your names so similar?" Lucy inquired and for the brief moment that Alex shrugged she could see Alexa doing the same._

_"__None of my other descendants named their children even remotely after me so I may have manipulated their parents into naming her that." A giggle escaped the red head at the blonde's dumbfounded expression before she sobered up._

_"__I've brought you here because my cute little descendant is just about to get herself killed and I want you to save her." Lucy looked up alarmed at that._

_"__What?! I don't even know where she is!"_

_"__She's in the Celestial Spirit World, of course. At least she was before."_

_"__Why would she have been there?" Alex hummed in response._

_"__I can't tell you that, but I can tell you that she's used up her magic recklessly and is most likely going to die if you don't rescue her."_

_"__Why me? Can't you do it?"_

_"__I'm dead. Do you expect me to get up from where I'm resting in peace in another world – moreover another dimension – when you can just do it? Besides," a sly grin tugged on her lips, "the people she risked her life for are the ones you want to see the most so the most you can do is return the favor." After a bit of hesitation, Lucy sighed in resignation._

_"__Fine," she agreed and Alex's grin broadened into one of happiness, "where would she be if she is not in the Celestial World anymore?"_

_"__Hmm, I can't tell you that either. But knowing my descendant's good luck among the bad, she'll end up near to you in her half-dead state. In the meantime, you'll need to keep your guard up." The scene began fading and Alex's grin softened._

_"__I guess it's time for me to go huh? Take care of Alexa for me, and good luck on your journey Lucy Heartfilia."_

_The throne room melted into black and Lucy was swallowed in the darkness that followed._

* * *

Lucy groaned groggily as her eyes fluttered open, blinking rapidly in an attempt to get her eyes to focus as her dream replayed in her mind.

Yawning, she gently shook awake the sleeping Lisanna who made a small whine at the back of her throat.

"Why did you wake me Lucy-chan? We're not in Magnolia yet,"

"It feels like something's going to happen soon," At this, Lisanna shook the drowsiness from her body and began waking the blue cat in her lap.

"Did you have a dream about it?"

"More like someone told me. Why is my dreaming mind so easy to get into anyway?" She inquired while trying to wake Natsu who was snuggling into her lap comfortably.

Lisanna could only shrug.

"Natsu…Natsu, wake up."

"Has the world stopped spinning yet?" Came the sickly reply and she rolled her eyes and sighed.

"No Natsu, the world has not stopped-" The train jerking to an abrupt halt cut off what Lucy was about to say next and the group jumped up, tense and ready for battle.

A growl caused her to whip her head in its direction only for her eyes to enlarge in shock.

To the front of the train was one of the biggest wolves she had ever seen, with gray fur and black soulless eyes, similar to the wyvern she had encountered as well as the purple haired girl she had met on the same day.

"Natsu, do you think it's her?"

"It has to be her. I can smell her magic coming from that thing in waves." Lisanna just stared at them confused.

"Who are you guys talking about?"

"It's Luna-" A body suddenly slammed into Lucy from in front, the momentum sending her straight through the window's glass behind her and onto the dusty earth next to it.

She could faintly hear her friends shouting for her but as she reopened her eyes, red hair filled her vision.

"Alexa?" The young woman didn't answer but lolled her head back to look at the blonde holding her.

"It's nice to see you again, Lucy-chan." With that one sentence, her eyes rolled back in her head and she passed out.

"Lucy, are you okay?" Natsu asked, picking the red head off of her so she could stand.

Dusting off her clothes with a nod, she froze as the wolf from the train's front as well as 5 others the same size and one way bigger than them started stalking towards them,

"What the hell?" She heard Lisanna mumble as Natsu also released a string of curses before Lucy shook her head with a grin.

"What are you guys doing, getting all weird on me now?" At the quizzical expressions on their faces she elaborated, "This is what we deal with every day. We'll beat some overgrown puppies, Lisanna can get a new Take-Over and we can go home. So what do you say?"

"I'm always down for a new Takeover," Lisanna smirked, changing into her cat form.

"I can't say I'm not fired up." Natsu passed Alexa over to Happy and told him to get a safe distance away.

"Let's kick some ass Team Natsu!" With war cries the three leapt into battle.

Lisanna immediately started with a jumping spinning crescent kick to one's jaw followed by clawing another in the face and roundhouse kicking a third in the chin, a wide smile on her face.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu yelled, punching one in the face and then releasing a roar, knocking back two more.

"…I hate you all." Lucy muttered when they left her with the Fenrir-like wolf.

It was much taller than her – probably due to her generally short height – so when she cracked her whip, it smacked him on one of its front legs.

The Fenrir growled and lunged at her but Lucy dived out of the way and sliced its underbelly with a small dagger she kept in her boot infused with Celestial Magic, which barely grazed the creature.

Cursing lightly as she dropped the blade, she ducked under the swipe of a paw and created 3 spheres, sending them off immediately to the wolf's face, stunning him for a few seconds.

Shifting her attention back over to the other fights, she saw that while Lisanna had taken out one, yet Natsu was still struggling with three of his.

Every time he released a blast of fire the wolves just shook it off and continued advancing to him.

At first she was puzzled by this but then her mind flashed to who created them in the first place.

"They're immune to fire!" Lucy yelled to Natsu but in her distraction the Fenrir unlocked its jaws and released a low pitched howl, vibrating the air and sending tangible sound waves straight to Lucy.

They hit into her side and briefly she heard the shouts from Natsu and the others before she was flung far, barely managing to land in a crouch position and sliding to a halt.

The creature sprung towards her, teeth bared and she caught both open jaws, pushing magic into her fingertips and onto the Fenrir and the small explosion created sent them in opposite directions.

It shook its head as it got back up, growling viciously at her and ignoring the bleeding coming from the hole in its mouth thanks to the large tooth now lying on the ground.

"Why don't you die already?" Lucy yelled in frustration, unclasping her whip once more and slashing the Fenrir's nose, creating a small X on the appendage.

The wolf seemed to eye her with a blank expression before narrowing its eyes in apparent anger.

"…Shit."

* * *

_To Lisanna and Natsu…_

"Lucy!"

"Natsu, move!" Lisanna yelled while pushing the distracted boy away from the sharp teeth of the wolf that bit dirt instead of Natsu's flesh.

"Now is not the time to be sidetracked!" She reprimanded, shifting her paws to collide her fist with the animal's face.

"But Lucy-"

"-is fine. She is not weak Natsu. I know you want to look out for her but she is a capable mage." She stared at him square in eyes, "Have some faith in our Luce, okay?" He cracked a small, hesitant smile and nodded.

"Yeah, I know she'll win. I was just worried." The white-haired Take-Over mage giggled giddily in her head at the sort-of confession. She knew Natsu; he was a bit stupid, but not silly enough to not know about how he felt towards Lucy. He just needed a push in the right direction.

"Of course, who wouldn't be worried about their future girlfriend?" Lisanna snickered as Natsu's face became all sorts of red as he tried to stutter out an excuse.

"We-I mean- I-I-" She just sighed and put a hand on the flustered boy's shoulder.

"You can tell me all about your crush on Lucy later. Right now we have slightly smaller fish to fry." He disregarded the first part and smirked, raising two folded fists as they stood back to back.

"Have you taken too many hits to the head Lisanna? These are obviously not fish _and _they're immune to fire." Lisanna rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"My dear, sweet, moronic best friend, you are too precious for this world,"

Ignoring Lisanna's statement yet again the two then realized that the remaining 4 wolves had surrounded them, poised and ready to attack.

"Let's finish these guys off and get to Lucy," Natsu said firmly and Lisanna shifted slightly, sharp claws glinting in the sunlight.

"Ready, set, GO!"

Natsu dived forward delivering a powerful punch to a wolf the same time Lisanna used her two feet to barrel into another, the two knocking heads and instantly KO-ing.

"Animal Soul: Armadillo!" Her purple magic circle appeared and her outfit changed and she morphed into a magenta armadillo, much larger than the actual armored creature.

She curled herself into a ball and rammed into an unsuspecting wolf, a crack causing it to fall the same time Natsu kneed the last one and it fell as well before they all turned to black dust that was swept into the wind.

But not before Lisanna absorbed one of them into her Take-Over.

The two high-fived just as a small scream was heard and their eyes widened.

"Lucy…" Natsu breathed then took off toward the noise, leaving Lisanna to turn back into her cat form and follow him.

Neither of them in their haste noticing that Happy was no longer with them.

* * *

"Agh!" Lucy screamed as one of the Fenrir's claws grazed her side fairly deeply as she tried to dodge its paw slash.

She glanced down at it, fully expecting to see blood, but bit her lip to muffle her cry when she realized that the cut was burning itself close, causing burning pain to shoot from her side. She cartwheeled away from the foot ready to crush her, desperately trying to ignore the pain and summoned a magic infused sphere. She swiped it by one of the beast's eyes, blinding it and disintegrating the fur to create a scar.

"I am really starting to hate you," She grumbled when the burning subsided.

The Fenrir opened its mouth and Lucy fully expecting it to release the sound waves again tensed her body in preparation to run.

So when a high-pitched ear piercing noise left its jaws, she was completely vulnerable.

Lucy's palms flew to cover her ears, hoping to block out at least a fraction of the sound that just seem to bypass her fingers and into her inner ears.

She opened her mouth in a scream, which was baritones deeper than what usually came out of her mouth and she cracked an eye open to see Natsu lying on the ground writhing in agony.

Her eyes widened when she realized that Natsu's sensitive hearing must have made the pain she was feeling thrice as worse.

Lisanna had been forced from her Take-Over, which lessened the discomfort but only by a little.

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to come up with some way to save her friends, but was unable to think over Natsu's gut wrenching screams.

'If only I could summon someone…" She thought frantically watching her friends suffer then freezing when something Alex said was brought back to memory.

_"__The people she risked her life for are the ones you want to see the most…"_ She let out a quiet gasp as she glanced down at the key filled pouch.

'Should I…I mean if it doesn't work, that magic will go to waste and we'll have a lesser chance of winning but,' she tore her vision back to Natsu as he let loose another scream.

"I'll do anything to protect them!" she stood up on shaky legs and attempted to cancel out the ringing, concentrating fully on the silver key held tightly in her grasp.

"Open! Gate of the Hunter, Orion!" A bright light blinded Lucy as well as the Fenrir who stopped howling.

The bell tolls made her heart soar and when the Celestial Spirit appeared before her, she almost broke down in tears.

"Hey squirt, how are ya?" Orion greeted with a grin, ruffling the girl's hair until she smacked it away weakly.

"Stop that Orion; I'm not a squirt anymore." Lucy chided with a small tremble in her voice as the hunter's smile softened.

"I've noticed. You're all grown up now." A growl from the gray wolf brought their attention back to the creature who bared its gleaming teeth at them.

"It's been way too long since we've fought together huh?" Lucy said as she readied her magic and Orion pulled out his rifle.

"Yeah, it has. But now you can show me how strong you've gotten." The two took off with Orion firing six bullets at it while Lucy boosted them with her magic, causing them to explode as they made contact with the Fenrir's fur.

The wolf stumbled back, but otherwise it didn't have an effect on it, but even so, Lucy smirked.

She jumped up into the air, removing two keys from her pouch.

"Taurus, Perseus!" The two appeared, wasting no time slashing at the beast with precision as it struggled to fight back.

"Celestial Lucy kick!" A celestial magic-infused kick collided with the wolf's cheek and a crack followed as the Fenrir growled lowly, more blood dripping from its mouth.

It snapped and bit at them, attempting to grab them within its sharp teeth but they jumped back, only to have it suddenly became focused on only Lucy.

Its cold black orbs flashed blue for a split second before dashing forward but she somersaulted out of the way, ricocheting off a tree and slamming a fist into its injured eye.

They stood at a standstill for a while as Lucy tried to catch her breath but the Fenrir wouldn't let her.

It opened its jaws wide and a black ball of pure dark energy built up, right toward Lucy.

She moved to dodge but realized that if she did, Natsu, who was still recovering on the ground along with Lisanna, would get hit.

"Gate of the Hunter, Hero and Bull, close!" She quickly sent back her Spirits, ignoring their indignant cries as she focused on the rapidly growing ball.

'This is the only shot I'll get to take him out,' She thought, determination set on her features as she yelled at the Fenrir.

"For trying to hurt my friends and aiding the enemy, receive divine punishment!" A large golden magic circle appeared in her outstretched palms as she pushed magic into it at an alarmingly fast rate, as she tried to catch up to the wolf.

Lucy gritted her teeth as the magic circle glowed brightly and she felt her keys do the same at her side as if aiding her.

"I won't lose to some shitty dog!"

The over-sized wolf growled as she called her spell,

"Cosmic beam: Super Charge!" They fired off at the same time and collided, creating a shockwave that rippled through the air and causing Lucy to dig her feet into the dirt floor.

For a few seconds the two appeared to be in a deadlock, until Lucy began being pushed back.

She tried sending more magic into it but the beam slowly began being engulfed by the black beam.

"F-fire Dragon's Roar!" A large column of fire raced to meet Lucy's beam and she glanced at the corner of her eye to see Natsu next to her, a look of concentration on his face as the flames left his lips.

Another black beam shot out on the other side of her and she was met with Lisanna in her new wolf Take-Over.

"You guys," She whispered before setting her gaze on the wolf.

"Don't you know who we are? We're Fairy Tail mages! We never give up in the face of danger!" Their combined power became too much for the Fenrir and started pushing back its beam of black magic.

"And one more thing: Tell Luna to go screw herself!" The Fenrir was overwhelmed and exploded into black dust with one last cry.

The mages panted as they stopped releasing magic and Lisanna returned to her normal form as silence reigned over them once more.

Until Lisanna bonked Lucy on the head, glaring at her ferociously.

"Why do you always do that?" Lucy tilted her head to the side innocently.

"Do what?"

"Hold back! We all know that you could've handled that thing just fine so why did you wait 'til the last minute to put power behind it?" Instead of answering, Lucy backed her, pink splattered across her cheeks as she mumbled something inaudible under her breath.

Natsu, with his keen hearing heard every word and slid toward the blushing girl who was trying to use her bangs to hide her flushed face.

"What was that Lucy~" He questioned while slinging an arm around her shoulder so she couldn't escape, making the tips of her ears turn as pink as his hair.

"You heard me," She muttered but Natsu only shook his head, tutting lightly.

"I may have heard you, but Lisanna didn't." Lucy made a zipping motion with her fingers over her mouth, refusing to talk.

"You never learn do you Luce," Before she could ask what he was talking about, his fingers were digging into her sides, drawing a squeal from her that bubbled into a laugh.

She felt her knees buckle but Natsu's strong grip kept her steady as she tossed her head back onto his shoulder, her own shaking from her laughter.

From her half lidded eyes she could see Lisanna creeping up next to her, intent on serving the same punishment.

"I said that I wanted us to finish it off together alright!" She gave in and Natsu stopped at her confession, leaving her to catch her breath.

"What was that?" Lisanna asked and Lucy took the end of Natsu's scarf and put it up to her eyes before replying again.

"I wanted us to finish it off together like the superhero trios did so I waited until you came back." Every word that came from her mouth made her face turn redder and redder until it was a bright scarlet, embarrassment seeping out of her being.

Lisanna was the first to react, pinching the girl's cheeks as she squealed.

"You're so cute, Lucy-chan!" Lisanna said cutely as if Lucy were a baby, the girl swatting her hands away with a 'Leave me alone.'

Natsu chuckled as Lucy was briefly aware that she could feel it reverberating through her back which caused her blush to surprisingly worsen as he spoke.

"But aren't we a quartet, Lucy? You, me, Lisanna and Happy, isn't that right buddy?" He waited for the 'Aye Sir!' he was sure would come, but when he got none, Natsu began looking around in mild panic.

"Happy?" He called out and by now, Lisanna and Lucy were searching for the blue feline as well.

Suddenly, slow clapping filled their ears and a twenty year old Luna came out from the shadows, a smirk plastered on her face.

"It took you long enough to notice that the fur ball was gone. I thought I would've had to reveal myself if you didn't realize."

Lucy's stomach churned as she took in the purple hair that now reached the older woman's upper back and eyes that were now both pitch black, the malevolent aura seeping from her threatening to strangle them.

Lucy didn't want to believe it was her, but the small teasing tone in her voice that hid wicked intentions made her dreadfully certain;

Luna was back.

* * *

**Aaaand done!**

**That chapter was hell to write, so sorry I took so long.**

**I can't promise when the next chapter will be out, but it will come.**

**I'm not gonna give up on this or any of my stories, ever.**

**Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed and do you see how many follows and faves we have?**

**I love you all so much!**

******MANGA SPOILERS******

**Lucy is more of a badass than normal and I love it.**

**Laxus has become sexier in that year, something that I thought was impossible but I was wrong.**

**Gray named an attack after his father and I died.**

**Natsu and that freaking bandage all the time!**

******MANGA SPOILERS END******

**Last question, have you guys ever watched Noragami?**

**I've recently finished the anime and am currently reading the manga and I must say...I love it so much!**

**YatoxHiyori forever!**

**Well, that's it for me today.**

**Don't forget to fave, follow, review and keep being awesome.**

**With a Starshot of love,**

**A.**


	10. Chapter 10: Twist of Events

"It's been a while hasn't it, Lucy? Did you miss me?" Luna asked with false saccharine in her tone and amusement in her eyes, as if the now tense atmosphere was nothing serious.

It wouldn't have been too surprising if to her, it wasn't.

"On the contrary Luna, I thought you'd died," Lucy said with confidence that was quickly diminishing. She willed her voice not to shake or crack in the middle of her sentence, "But then I wouldn't have the pleasure of kicking you back to oblivion myself, now would I?"

"As mean as ever I see." The purple haired woman sighed, absently picking at her nails.

While Lucy and Natsu were wary of her sudden appearance, Lisanna was positively terrified as she looked into the endless void of black in Luna's eyes.

There was so much anguish in their depths, as if she'd swallowed the world's turmoil and kept it all in her. Or maybe it all belonged to her. When Lisanna had been fighting the Dire wolves, she had felt the pure darkness they had exuded and while it had unnerved her to a certain extent, it didn't make her feel like it did now. Right now, Luna's very presence was terrifyingly dark, as if she had never known the light, and had only walked the path of darkness her entire life.

Lisanna had heard stories about her, but to see the woman face-to-face, to _feel_ the raw black magic seeping from every fiber of her being; it only caused dread to take hold of her heart.

She hadn't realized she was trembling like a child until slightly calloused fingers wove between hers, giving her hand a firm squeeze.

Her terror-filled gaze shifted to Lucy's warm brown eyes and her gentle smile. The storm brewing in her heart was pierced by a ray of sunshine. Her shaking stopped.

"Don't look at her; focus only on me, okay?" She managed a shaky smile and a nod and they returned their attention on Luna.

She caught Lisanna's gaze once more and her smirk widened, sending a small shiver down the white-haired girl's spine. She held her ground though, setting her features in a glare.

"I just remembered why I'm here!" Luna shouted out all of a sudden. She snapped her fingers and two small cages appeared, though one was bigger than the other. The bars were made of purple fire and one contained a familiar blue cat and the other, an unconscious red haired woman.

"Alexa! Happy!" The three stepped forward, but Luna waggled a finger at them, shaking her head.

"Ah, ah, ah. If you move, I'll blow them to smithereens." Luna smirked as Natsu growled fiercely.

"Let them go!" He yelled but Luna shook her head in reply.

"Now why would I do that? That's no fun." She focused her attention back on Lucy and her gaze turned slightly darker with rage she didn't bother to hide, though the smile never left her face.

Lucy stepped forward slightly, letting go of Lisanna's hand.

"What do you want?"

Luna hummed. Her eyes looked between the three mages before settling on the white-haired girl. "I'm feeling generous today. I'll let you choose, Lisanna dear, who lives and who dies."

Lucy and Natsu's heads both snapped to their best friend, whose blue eyes were wide.

"M-me?" She stuttered, pointing to herself. Luna nodded.

"Yes, you. You get to decide who get out of these cages. However," Luna crossed her arms, "whoever is left will be burned til not even ashes are left and you'll have to live with that guilt for the rest of your life." She shrugged at the horrified look that came over Lisanna's face.

"I mean, no pressure or whatever, but if you choose wrong then the fate of humanity could potentially be doo—"

"Be quiet!" Lisanna yelled, crouching on the ground. Just as Lucy and Natsu were about to run over to their best friend, Luna called out again, making them freeze.

"Also, if you influence her decision in any way, I'll make sure to just kill them both, okay?"

A tense silence enveloped the already paper thin atmosphere.

Lisanna stayed still in her crouch, mind racing with her heart. How was she to choose who lived and who died? Happy was a member of Fairy Tail; one of their own. He had to be rescued. But on the other hand, she'd heard of Alexa from Lucy and as far as they knew she was the only one that could take on Luna at her most serious.

Blue eyes, hard with frustration glanced up into the tree tops.

_'__Someone…anyone…tell me what to do.'_

Just as she finished the thought, something shiny glinted from the sun and she furrowed her eyebrows for a second. She stared hard, trying to make out what was there. It shone like metal, but it didn't seem to have the same colour as one. Almost like glass…or…

Suddenly she gasped, shooting up from her spot on the ground.

"I choose Alexa!" She shouted loudly.

Natsu's head snapped towards her, betrayal bright in his dark eyes. Lisanna didn't spare him or Lucy a second glance. Her focus was on Luna.

The purple-haired woman, who was stunned for a brief second, suddenly burst out laughing. "Wow, really?"

"Yes. I choose Alexa over Happy. She's our only shot at beating you." Lisanna nodded firmly.

"You'd risk your friendship with your best friends for a shot—a _chance_—at defeating me?" Luna then looked thoughtful, resting her hand on her chin. "Wow, I must be more dangerous than I thought."

Luna snapped her fingers and the cage surrounding her sister disappeared. The red head remained unmoving, the only indicator she wasn't dead was the small, slow rise and fall of her chest. Luna walked over to her and lifted her from the ground, only to toss her carelessly to Lucy's side. Even then she was still though but her arms were now sporting new cuts and her cheek had a light gash.

"Well then," Luna said, igniting her hands, "a deal's a deal. Never say I'm not fair."

A wall of black flames erupted in front of the trio, blocking them from their furry blue friend.

"Happy!" Natsu yelled out, attempting to jump at the flames. Lucy grasped him from behind, clamping a hand over his mouth. The boy thrashed in her arms, his yelling muffled by her hands as he jerked forward.

"Natsu, no! You can't eat these flames." He seemed to wriggle harder in her grasp but Lucy held on firmer, digging their heels into the earth to stabilize his body. Lucy turned to Lisanna who was watching everything unfold with confident blue eyes.

Her brown eyes clashed with blue ones like waves crashing against a cliff, both strong in faith. Lisanna had faith in what she saw. Lucy had faith in her friend.

"You know what you're doing, right?" Lucy asked.

Lisanna simply nodded.

Not even a second later, the wall dissipated into black steam. Luna was on the forest floor three arrows—transparent blue in colour and emitting a white mist—lodged into her palm and legs. The purple-haired woman hissed in pain, growling when she tried to pull the arrows out, but they were stuck deep into her flesh. Blood poured from her wounds, but the arrows were slowly but surely melting into a water puddle. However, she was immobile.

The small cat was unharmed, held tightly by a familiar individual.

"Dawn?" Lucy asked in disbelief, letting go of the pink haired boy who was too stunned to do anything. The blue haired, now older, mage directed her yellow cat-like eyes to Lucy.

"This really isn't the place for reintroductions, is it?" She said emotionlessly, eyes sliding over to Alexa's still form near to Lucy. Her eyes flashed with something unreadable, the corners of her mouth curving downwards for a spilt second before returning to her normal impassive look.

A light blizzard picked up around the area, blanketing the mages in snow.

"I'll take you back to my place."

In the blink of an eye, they were out of the forest, a scream of rage reverberating behind them.

Instead, they were in what looked like a small cottage, fit for one.

**.**

**.**

**.**

"Where in the hell have you been for the last two years?!" Natsu exploded once the shock of seeing not one, not two, but all three of the invaders who'd disappeared suddenly in one day, wore off. They were seated in the living room (which was only an armchair and a three seater couch) after Dawn had put Alexa to rest on the only bed in the small house.

"You would think after I saved their lives, they'd be more grateful. Children these days." Dawn mumbled dryly, taking a small sip of the tea she had brewed. Lisanna smacked Natsu on his head, mindful of the sleeping cat in her hands. He'd eaten about 3 fishes before deciding to go back to sleep. She smiled apologetically at the older woman.

"Sorry about that. Thank you, really." Dawn's lips tilted in her own version of a smile at the apology.

Lucy followed up Natsu quickly.

"But where have you been?"

"Everywhere and nowhere, generally." Dawn shrugged. "Mostly just around the Magic Council and whatnot." The three mages tried not to cringe at the thought of the Magic Council. "Gathering information about mages and your world and trying to get home. I've learned a lot, but it would've all really been for nothing if I couldn't get to my original goal."

"Which is…"

"Finding that one, of course." She jerked her head towards the bedroom door, where Alexa laid. "I've searched all over Fiore for a way to get into the Celestial World but—"

Lisanna furrowed her eyebrows. "The Celestial World? But why would you need to get into there? I thought only Celestial Spirits could survive in there." Dawn shook her head, pursing her lips.

"Forget it. I said too much already. The rest is for Alexa to tell you when she wakes up."

"How long is she gonna take a nap for anyway?" Natsu grumbled and this time Lucy smacked him. Dawn sighed and her face suddenly looked years older, the worry for her friend etching onto her features with sharp lines highlighted by the sun.

"I have no idea." She started, "It could be weeks—months even—before she opens her eyes."

"But why?" Lucy asked, "Earthland is full of ethernano; it shouldn't take long at all for her magic to replenish—"

"Oh, I wish it were that simple."

"What do you mean?"

"You know about magic containers, right?" The trio nodded.

"It's like a well inside you that holds your magic power and signifies your status as a mage." Lisanna explained and Dawn nodded.

"Right. As you grow as a mage, that container expands and expands as your magic increases. But Alexa wasn't born like that."

"You mean she was born without a container?"

Dawn chuckled. It was a bitter, sardonic sound that brought with it unease that fluttered through the mages.

"On the contrary, when Alexa was born, she had an over-abundance of magic. It was too much for her tiny body and her then small magic container so it cracked."

"It cracked?" Natsu echoed? "Wouldn't that mean that she wouldn't be able to use magic anymore?"

"Not even days after her birth, Alexa was dying. Her body was heating up to levels nobody could handle because of all the magic trying to escape from her. But her father, the King at the time, gave her a necklace to wear at all times. It was handed down through her lineage and had been in her family for a long time. Since the beginning of her race, I think. It was used to stop mages of her bloodline from going out of control by suppressing their magic ability. By doing so, they were able to slow the release of magic from her body and save her. But—"

"Wait, wait and wait. Hold on." Lisanna interrupted. "You said Alexa's father, the _King_?" Dawn nodded.

"Alexa currently holds the title of Queen of the Kingdom of volcanoes and flames, better known as Ignius." Lisanna looked over to Lucy, grinning widely and her eyes sparkling.

"You know a Queen? You know a Queen!"

Lucy only glared at her. "Shh! I'm trying to hear the story."

Lisanna sighed; her excitement was only dampened a fraction. It was futile to try to interrupt Lucy from her favorite pastime in the first place. That girl loved stories way too much.

Dawn coughed faintly, regaining the trio's attention. A genuine smile was painted on her features, highlighting in a softer tone as she continued her story.

"As I was saying, they thought they had fixed the problem, but it'd only just begun. Because of the damage done to her body, Alexa grew up with a weak constitution. She was hardly outside since she got sick so easily and none of the dignitaries from the other Kingdoms had seen her. The King, not knowing what to do, did the only thing he knew; he trained her. He left the palace with Alexa, leaving her mother and the Prime Minister to deal with all the work and set off to train Alexa. It may have seemed like a spur of the moment thing, but that training saved her life. They left when she was five and came back eight years later."

"And she was better?" Natsu asked and Dawn shook her head.

"Yes and no. Her magic container was still cracked but her body was stronger and she could handle the outflow of magic better. Her skills in a fight aren't matched as far as I know and her sword wielding is the best I've ever seen in my life."

"How do you even know all this?"

Dawn's yellow eyes flashed, darkness and sorrow in their depths, her smile dimming. "We've been together for so long I don't think I can go back to a life without her. We've fought together during many dark, dangerous trials." The storm cloud of emotion cleared as quickly as it had come, but no smile returned. "As it is, I know first-hand how much her powers and strength were developed and continue to develop as I was the first to challenge her." Her eyes unfocused as she looked into her memories.

"I remember storming into her castle when there was the tri-annual meeting of the nations' royalty and going straight up to her room."

_*Flashback*_

_*Alexa's room, The Kingdom of Ignius*_

_"__I challenge you to a duel!" A short, pigtailed girl yelled, bursting into the room. Her cat-like yellow eyes scanned the room until they locked with bright blue, narrowing fiercely._

_"__Leave her alone, Dawn. Nobody invited you!" A fourteen year old boy with bright yellow hair and shockingly pale blue eyes interrupted._

_"__I wasn't taking to you, Ace. I was talking to Miss. Popularity over there."_

_"__She isn't like that, unlike some bi—"_

_"__Ace," the center of the conversation spoke up, resting a tanned hand on his shoulder. She smiled at him._

_"__It's okay." Then she turned to Dawn, standing up and sizing her up with her height. Alexa towered over her shorter form but Dawn's frigid eyes never wavered. Alexa's own eyes held blazing passion and excitement that Dawn couldn't understand. "You want a duel?"_

_"__Yes." Dawn replied. Alexa's grin widened._

_"__You got one."_

"Wow." Lucy said, raising an eyebrow. "You guys don't sound very friendly."

"That's because I hated her." The three younger mages eyes widened.

"Hated?"

"Mhm." Dawn actually smirked. "I hated how she just showed up out of nowhere and suddenly all the attention was on her. I worked hard every day, yet the amount of praise and attention I got was average of the Princess of the Ice Kingdom, or Freizia. I thought I was better than her, and I wanted to show that to her."

"And did you?" Dawn snorted loudly, which startled the mages.

"No. I lost, horribly."

_*Flashback*_

_*Training grounds, the Kingdom of Ignius*_

_"__This duel is between Princess Dawn of Freizia and Princess Alexa of Ignius. As requested, the duelists will choose the wagers now. They must be of equal value." Ignius' elder, a tall old man with sort white hair spoke._

_It was a small gathering, with only the immediate family of Dawn and Alexa attending the duel. The atmosphere was tense on Dawn's side, but Alexa's parents were more relaxed than ever. Dawn, who was dressed in a light yukata that was made with material that allowed for flexibility and doubled as armor, answered first. _

_"__If I win, Princess Alexa must never use her magic again." Her father smiled beneath his well-groomed beard and mustache. Dawn's stoic expression brightened slightly at the acknowledgement._

_Alexa glanced back at her father, who simply nodded at her._

_"__Then if I win, you must give me your life." Gasps echoed in the small parties._

_"__That's not fair! Elder!" Dawn cried, but the elder only shook his head._

_"__It is very fair. Using magic is the equivalent of living for her Highness. If she were to stop, she'd die."_

_"__Can you not tell my whole life story here?" Alexa interrupted loudly, garnering all eyes on her. "We're here to fight, not chit chat."_

_The elder nodded. "Very well then. You both know the rules; no kill shots and you must get the other individual to yield in order to win."_

_Dawn pulled out two razor sharp kamas, swinging them by their chains. The air around her began to rapidly cool and white mist spread from her feet. She was trying to intimidate, but her opponent hardly noticed._

_Alexa, who was dressed in simple clothing more suited towards a knight-in-training rather than a proud princess, extended her hand, and then paused. She turned to the elder._

_"__I can't use magic until the start of the match, right?"_

_"__That's correct."_

_Alexa let out an audible groan. She dropped her arm, shifting her stance and raising her fists._

_"__Ready," the girls bent their knees._

_"__Fight!" Dawn immediately shot off at rocket speed, swiping her kamas. Alexa sidestepped but Dawn was hot on her tail, slashing at her chest. Alexa dodged, somersaulting away._

_"__You're good at dodging, huh? Well see if you can dodge this!" In the blink of an eye, Dawn was at Alexa, slicing at speeds almost too quick for the audience to follow. Alexa was keeping up with the Ice princess easily, which only made her angry. What made her angrier was the fact that Alexa's eyes didn't hold the excitement they showed when the duel was first announced. Instead, they were bored and dull, and the match had only begun._

_Suddenly Alexa stomped her foot on the ground, catching Dawn off guard. One hand gripped her wrist and squeezed, tugging sharply. Her kamas slipped from her fingers. The other found the cloth of her yukata, fisting it tightly. With one heave, Dawn was soaring. In the next second her back was to the ground and she was pinned by a foot on her chest, cool metal pinching her neck._

_Her eyes were wide and her body was frozen in shock as she stared into cold, blue eyes. The words tumbled from her mouth before she could register it._

_"__I…yield."_

_*Flashback end*_

For a while, the three mages were speechless. They knew Alexa would have to be strong, but they didn't expect her to be that strong. They also didn't expect her to be so bloodthirsty, but no-one commented on that.

"Damn." Lisanna whistled. "But I don't see what this has to do with Alexa and her taking so long to heal?"

Dawn blinked, surprise appearing in her eyes and vanishing just as fast. "Oh, that. Well, when Alexa uses large quantities of magic—past the point in which her necklace allows—her body breaks down physically and takes a while to repair. Her body isn't ever fully healed, since as she gets stronger physically, her magic power increases as well as her container size, just not a quickly as the magic. So really, she's just like a baby who can use magic."

"Who the hell...are you calling a baby?" A weak voice said. The words were horribly slurred and thick with exhaustion, and all four mages turned to see Alexa slumped against the door-frame to the bedroom, breathing heavily.

Dawn immediately got up from where she was sitting to help the panting red head. She looped her arm around her back, dragging her friend's arm over her shoulders to secure her. They moved with a fluidity that spoke volumes of their friendship. Dawn's words, however, were frostier than her magic.

"What are you doing up, idiot?"

"I'm…fine." Alexa's shuddering betrayed her words. "I need…to talk to…Lucy. Help me out…would ya?" The two friends stared into each other's eyes, neither breaking contact for an uncomfortable amount of time.

Natsu, Lucy and Lisanna glanced at each other warily.

"What are they doing?" Natsu whispered. Lisanna shrugged.

"I have no clue." She whispered back.

"Can they read each other's minds or something?"

"I don't think that was a part of the skill set mentioned." Lucy replied.

"It's not mind reading." The bland voice replied and the three looked up to see Alexa hobbling awkwardly over to Lucy but Dawn wasn't helping a single bit. "It's called friendship."

Alexa chuckled, then coughed, her knees buckling as she reached Lucy's side. The blonde caught her easily, taking note of how ridiculously light she was despite being taller than the blonde. Alexa paid no mind, looking up at Lucy with semi-glazed eyes.

From the corner of her eye, she could see Dawn leading a reluctant Lisanna and Natsu out of the little house. Natsu looked at her, concern in his eyes, but Lucy shot him a reassuring grin. With no hesitation he returned it just as the door shut behind them.

"I'm sorry." Lucy blinked and opened her mouth to ask why she was apologizing, but Alexa continued, "Luna had somehow gotten into the Celestial World and started a war there. In order to have enough soldiers to fight I asked the Spirit King to cancel contracts."

Lucy's eyes widened. She swallowed harshly, all the moisture in her throat suddenly evaporating.

"And the reason they—Luna came back was because—"

"The war is over. Your Spirits are noble warriors; they could rival my own army." A fond smile settled on Alexa's face that briefly sent Lucy aback. She looked so proud at the thought of a strong army that Lucy couldn't help but wonder what she went through in her world. "Though…I'm not sure what Luna was doing these past few years, Lucy."

Lucy frowned, furrowing her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"Even though Luna sent the monsters for us, she was never physically _there._ If she was, I would've felt it and found her but she never showed. She must've known that I was bound to the Celestial World and couldn't leave."

"Wait, why?" Alexa shook her head.

"Not important. I don't have the time right now." Suddenly she stood and cupped Lucy's face, squeezing her cheeks. Immediately Lucy felt a wave of drowsiness overtake her body and she tried to stumble away from her, but Alexa's grip didn't falter. Her now crimson gaze was full of sorrow and grim determination.

Lucy's heart slowed despite her mind that began to panic. What was Alexa doing to her?

"I'm sorry, Lucy." The words were spoken in a way that sounded very not sorry. There was no regret to her following words either. "The world is in danger because of my actions once again and for once, it's not my destiny to stop it. However, you're not ready either and Luna won't wait any longer." The world tilted beneath Lucy's feet; her ears were stuffed with cotton. Her heavy body fell back but strong arms caught her before she could hit the ground. Her body felt as if needles had replaced her hairs, prickling as she lost feeling everywhere.

Just before darkness overcame her, Alexa spoke once more.

"The real fight begins now, Guardian."

* * *

"What do you think they have to talk about?" Lisanna mused aloud, sitting on a fallen log, watching Natsu pace up and down. A hand was on his chin, Happy resting on his head in perfect balance as he stalked, a look on concentration on his face.

Dawn said nothing. Her entire face was blank, not even her posture—as stiff as a board and un-moving as the arctic—gave away anything. She had moved a ways away from the younger mages, keeping her eyes on the earth and not on them.

And so, they waited in silence.

Then, a pulse of magic shook the air in gentle hums, rippling through the mages' bodies, soft and calm like a wave of light. A wave of heat chased after it, wild and free, weaving through empty space with the speed of a galloping horse, filling the atmosphere with all-encompassing warmth.

As quickly as the two magics came, they were gone.

Natsu's eyes darted to the entrance to Dawn's cottage.

"Lucy!" Just as he took a step in its direction, he was jerked back by his wrist roughly. He looked down at it. There was a cold hand clamped around his wrist, the freezing temperature of the appendage enough to send a shiver down his spine. Her other hand was holding blue chains that lead to Lisanna who was watching the mage with confused eyes. He followed it up to Dawn's expressionless face.

"Let me go! That was Lucy's magic!"

"And Alexa's magic." Lisanna added, pulling on her own magic. Her hand turned into that of her Cat Take-Over, but the chains still didn't budge when she tugged with the extra strength.

"No." Dawn's word echoed through the clearing. The atmosphere's temperature dropped, the warmth vanishing.

Natsu tugged on his wrist, but Dawn didn't budge.

"What do you mean, 'no'? If Lucy's in trouble then—"

"No." Dawn cut Lisanna off. If it was possible for the earth to freeze over, it probably would've with the lack of anything behind her word.

"You all will be a hindrance to everything. Forget about Lucy Heartfilia." Both mages froze at her words.

Lisanna was the first to snap out of it, eyes burning with ferocity. Dawn met them head on with a cool gaze. "What the hell do you mean 'forget about Lucy?' And what's this crap about her being a Heartfilia!"

"Tell me then," Dawn started, narrowing her eyes a near imperceptible amount, "what's Lucy's last name?" Lisanna's mouth dried. Dawn's eyes narrowed further.

"Exactly. You know nothing about her…nothing of her past…and nothing of the difficult future ahead of her."

"Why would we separate from Lucy at a time when she'll need us the most then?" Natsu then spoke, voice bordering on uncalm, clenching his hand into a fist. The veins in his hand bulged faintly under his skin from the effort.

"You'll hold her back." Dawn said simply.

"Like hell—"

"You. Will." She repeated, firmer than last time. "That girl would put her life on the line for you—her family. She can't afford that. _Your world cannot afford that_. If you want to help, you should stay away from her."

"How can you be so sure that we'll hold her back?" Dawn's grip slackened, but Natsu couldn't pull away even if he tried. All her features suddenly faltered. Her shoulders slumped. Pain and agony cracked her stony eyes just before she closed them for a second, then two, before reopening them. They were back to normal, yet there was still lingering sympathy and the same gut wrenching agony in them.

"Because a girl like her with her golden, beautiful heart…she will put you before the very universe itself. And against someone like Luna, who will take her love for her friends and manipulate it to her will like a puppet on a damn string—that wa—will be her downfall." Her hand, which was holding onto the end of Lisanna's chains, came up to her chest, her knuckles rubbing against the fabric there. Her voice cracked when she spoke.

"Trust me, I know."

Natsu stood, unsure of what to do. Lisanna was just the same, still staring at Luna with a hard gaze.

Just as they came back, they brought trouble with them. But, this wasn't the type of trouble to just disappear with a punch. Luna was a sinister opponent and manipulator and, if Dawn's words were true, wouldn't hesitate to use their friendship against them. But, wouldn't that just mean that they would have to be closer and get stronger together? Apparently, Dawn and Alexa didn't think so at all, if they were so determined to get them away from Lucy.

Natsu caught a glimpse of a thick line on Dawn's stomach where her cropped hoodie ended, before white flecks invaded his vision and coldness numbed his body. Panic swelled up in his body. He knew this spell well.

"Dawn!" He struggled against the snow, but it was as thick as a blizzard, and he found himself bouncing into a barrier. His magic extinguished in pitiful smoke every time he tried to activate it.

Desperation began to claw at his heart, making it cry out in its ascending crescendo of escalating heartbeats.

"_Lucy!_" Natsu pounded against the wall of snow. Blood dripped in time to his punches.

"Just forget about her. Please do not look for her. If you do, I _will_ be forced to move my hand." Her voice began to echo as they warped through time and space, away from Dawn and Alexa.

Away from Lucy.

"Hopefully our next meeting shall be the final, mages of Earthland. Hopefully you get back your friend in one piece."

Natsu's heart shattered.

* * *

Magnolia greeted them in a splendor of sunshine and warm air. There were a few people in the park where they appeared, but they didn't pay the two mages mind. For them, this was ordinary Fairy Tail.

Lisanna looked at Natsu, who was staring at his bloody hands in a state of shock, a lump forming in her throat. Despite her resistance against them, tears flooded her eyes and she found herself unsure who she was crying for.

For herself, who had lost a best friend?

Or for him, who lost not only a best friend, but his very heart?

She crawled over to him, her hands and knees scraping against the grass. Lisanna wrapped her arm around his shoulders, bringing down his head to rest on her shoulder.

His body was shaking.

The first sob that wracked her body was muffled by her other hand, but still were loud and harsh to her ears, tears dripping off her fingers in rivets. Lisanna had no words of reassurance to give the poor boy. She doubted Natsu would even hear them.

At the body on his and the crying by his ears, Natsu reacted. His throat burned; his lungs filling to the very top. He tilted his head skyward, just as the first tear slid from his right eye.

Natsu's roar shook the sky.

* * *

**Aaaand done!**

**Hello, hello! I live! Yaaaaay!**

**Wow...wow...this is long, long overdue.**

**Now...there is a reason for this. Kinda.**

**The main one is that the last time I updated I was just about entering the busiest period of my teenager life as the biggest exams of my school-life are coming up in a few months****. So, I was busy staving off existential crises as I wondered why it was a good idea to do Chemistry, Biology and Physics...but whatever. Because of that though, after this, I'll be disappearing again until summer.**

**Boo! Boo!**

**Haha...yeah.**

**The other thing is, I was actually planning a rewrite of this story. My writing style has developed a little more since I've started this fic, and the plot has also changed a little (if you couldn't tell from this chapter). I was planning to retell the story of Fairy Tail, but changed my mind. This will now be an original story-line (kinda, since some FT original arcs are important)**** and I'll be changing a bit of stuff...where was I going with this?**

**Right! I was going to rewrite it, but then I realized that I left off at a non-concrete place so I could do whatever I wanted, so I scrapped the idea of a rewrite and decided to keep this story.**

**But, if you're interested in how I was gonna expand Alexa, Dawn and Luna's world and would like a rewrite, review and let me know!**

**Speaking of the trouble trio...**

**Alexa, Luna and Dawn's age. I said they were about 19? In their original world (that I'm currently writing out as its own story, which also kept me busy) at the end of the story they're about 23. But because of universe hopping and whatsnot and having to conform to the rules of Fairy Tail's 'verse, their bodies reverted to about 19. Because the people in Fairy Tail are either teenagers or old people or Zeref.**

**So, body of a 19 year old, but the personality and experiences of a 23 year old. Got it? Great!**

**So, that's it I guess.**

**Feel free to attack me how you wish as you review. I'll take it all because I deserve it.**

**With food consolations,**

**A.**


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